Hurt From The Past
by iamamywaterhouse
Summary: A protest kicks off another chapter of adventure in Hermione Granger's life. Five years after the war, a dull desk job is pushed aside so she can help Charlie Weasley and his band of researchers.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm back with a new one.  
>This is essentially the difficult second album that came after "There Was". I had no motivation until a few days ago when I started writing this.<br>I want to thank DZAuthor AKA DZMom for the prompts she gave me about a month ago. I've changed it a bit, but you gave me an idea!  
><strong>**This will not be as regular in the updates as "There Was" was, but I have exams right up until the end of May so I need to work my ass off for those. I will try my best to keep these as weekly updates.  
>Enjoy, and please review at the end!<strong>

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><p>At the tender age of seventeen, the day after he came of age Charlie fled to Romania in search of his passion. He was watching a flock of small Iron Bellies in the countryside of Kazakhstan when workers from the reserve in Romania caught him and accused him of being a spy and hunter for the British black market. After Charlie told them his name and showed his captors the research he had done at Hogwarts, they took him to their reserve. While there, he spoke with the reserve supervisors and explained his case before they offered him the most junior position on their team. His new bosses could see in his eyes the true passion for dragons that lay beneath his charismatic and hyperactive exterior.<p>

Over the years, Charlie's passion for the great beasts grew and grew. He was obsessive over details, with a hunger to know everything he could find out about his favourite animals. He thought them to be beautiful and respected their power unconditionally while he worked his way up the ranks. Slowly, the team around Charlie grew to trust him after their initial weariness of the newcomer wore off. He made friends who shared his love and found their experience invaluable when added to his continued research.

It was during this research, late at night in the privacy of his tiny bedroom years later that Charlie noticed a trend: Hunters stalking their prey in specific places, at specific times of the year. Charlie thought this odd, as they were killing only one or two dragons at a time but he knew that those one or two dragons would keep illegal dragon trade lively for a year if the traders were cunning enough.

Charlie of course took his research to his superiors, who took his news calmly. They had been aware of this hunting for a number of years, but we're not able to do anything to counteract it without the law changing first. Charlie was outraged, angry with the law, his supervisors, the hunters, everyone. Charlie however took his time, changing the angle of his research to that of the law, and old laws that proved he could change the law if his support was greater than the opposition.

He and a small band of friends from the reserve planned for months how they would stage their protest. They had to do it right, knowing that one slip up would be the end of all their work and all hope of changing this disgusting law would be gone. They started with a bang, storming the Ministry's main atrium on sleepy Monday morning and beginning their protest. Shouting from the rafters about how despicable dragon hunters were, about how this illegal trade was unsafe, magically unstable and potentially catastrophical when it came down to personal safety was what did it. Charlie and his team had got the publics attention. As the crowd gathered, Charlie told them the naked truth about his work as he scanned the crowd. Petitions were signed, flyers and brochures passed around and the support was phenomenal. They stayed for a week, passing information onto the Ministry and their legal department, as well as the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, scorning them for not doing anything sooner when it was revealed they knew of the hunters.

On the final day of Charlie's protest, Hermione walked through the atrium after having heard the gossip about radical movements and massive protests. She knew nothing of the people holding the protest or about how extensive it was but the idea of taking a stand against the Ministry drew her closer. Even as she took her first step from the fireplace she flooed in to, she could see someone was trying to make a big deal. She fought through crowds of people, shouting their support to the people on the stage and looked up at the men.

There were seven men on stage, all weather hardened and rough around the edges. Despite this, they all held themselves with authority and confidence needed to drag old laws into the twenty-first century. Three were dark haired and olive skinned, one a short black man with deadlocks down to his waist, two with the dark hair and pale skin of Eastern Europe. There was no mistaking the final man, trademark red hair, more muscles than its possible for a man to have, tattered jeans, tight fitting t-shirts and a look of fire in his eyes. Charlie Weasley. Of course, Hermione thought. If anyone was passionate about his or her vocation it was he.

She stood and listened to Charlie speak, outing the hunters and traders to the world. He was more determined than anyone Hermione had ever seen in her life and she couldn't help but feel she had to help. Charlie words were well spoken, strong and truthful (a fact that didn't escape Hermione's attention as being the exact opposite of the Ministry they were correctly occupying). After working in the Ministry for the past few years, Hermione had heard stories and rumours of illegal traders in all niches, not just dragons but with being so low in the hierarchy she had no power to stop them.

She noticed Charlie coming to the end of his speech now, flicking his wand at a pile of flyers that flew around the room like a tornado as they landed in the hands of the crowd. She took hers quickly, scanning the page.

"We will be coming around now to ask any further questions you man have," the black man called out in his thick West Indian accent. The seven men mixed with the crowd, heated discussions brewing with all of them. Hermione made her approach to Charlie before he was engulfed in the wave of people heading to him. He had spoken the majority of facts so naturally people wanted him to answer the most questions.

"Where's your proof?" a shrill voice asked him in the crowd.

"I have been personally involved with research into dragons since my fifth year at Hogwarts, and I started the current research into unlawful hunting and trading nearly six years ago after I found a trend for the annual killing of innocent and unmarked dragons in eastern Europe and the western borders with Russia and China. I took my findings to my superiors and once I learnt that they were only stopped by an outdated law did I decide to do something myself." Charlie said smartly to the haggard old woman. "By bringing this issue forward with the Ministry, I truly believe that these issues can be stamped out, and only lawful, and safe dragon products can be used in extreme circumstances and in wand production."

Hermione was suitably impressed at Charlie's involvement, heading the research for over half a decade while still working full time was no mean feat.

"How can they be unsafe? A dragon's a dragon, ain't it?" another voice asked. Even Hermione joined in with the rolling of eyes at this.

"Dragons that are wild and unmarked by any legitimate reserve can be diseased, cursed. Contaminated in some way. It can happen if dragons are abused by wizards, causing their magic to change and become unstable," Charlie started. "When they are brought to the reserve by the specially trained wranglers, we have a medical team and a curse breaking team dedicated to clearing dragons of any infections or curses before they are permitted to enter. Only once they are free of these, they can be recorded and marked by a tracking charm to be worked on further. If you were to use contaminated dragon products in potions, the repercussions would be dangerous and may lead to death. Would you want that for a loved one?" he challenged. Taking his defeat with a huff, the man backed away slowly.

"Why haven't the laws changed already? You claim the Ministry has known about these hunters but they haven't done anything!" another voice asked. This one was not angry like the previous ones, just skeptical.

"There are a few reasons," Charlie said. "For the most part, no one has researched to the depth we have. As far as I know there is only one other person in the world that would go to the lengths we have to get information. Secondly, this Ministry was on the brink of war when I started this research six years ago, any attempt to change laws then would have ended up with me in a cell for wasting time and nothing would have been done for my trouble. For the most part, an idea was needed to kick start this change, and now that my team and I have got the wheel in motion we are confident in the law changing and stopping these hunters dead."

"How can we help?" a small voice asked. Hermione didn't know she had said anything until Charlie's eyes met hers. He allowed a small smile of recognition to grace his features before he went on addressing the masses.

"We need support," he said plainly. "We need to let everyone we know that we are fighting back. Tell your friends; family and coworkers, anyone you can think of that we are putting a stop to this unlawful hunt. Take your stories to the Prophet and the Quibbler if you must but we need to make sure the Department of Magical Law Enforcement know we are serious. Only when they know that can we take out case to the Wizengamot and get these laws changed in our favour."

A small clattering of noise overcame this smaller crowd as they spoke about Charlie's idea until a voice overtook them all.

"Who was the other person you said would put effort into doing the research? Why didn't they do something sooner?" a voice called, obviously questioning Charlie's work.

"Because that person was working on something else, and I'm sure you're as appreciative of her work as the rest of us," Charlie called back. "Without her help, we would be kissing the feet of Voldemort right now."

A collective shocked gasp was let out when Charlie called You Know Who by name. Even after five years, most witches and wizards refused the name completely. A realization came over them however at his words while Hermione silently blushed.

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><p><em>For now...<em>

_So, what are our thoughts? I know nothing can be really be said about the plot just from the first chapter, but I'd love to hear your thoughts anyway._


	2. Chapter 2

**I said weekly, but I don't want you getting bored.  
>Thank you for the reviews on chapter one, and the alerts this has received.<br>Here's part two a couple of days early.**

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><p>At the end of her working day, Hermione lazily wondered back towards her favourite fireplace to floo home. It had been a punishing week in her department and a long soak in a bath was well overdue. Being the most junior employee in her department, even after eighteen months took its toll. She may be used as a pencil pusher with ideas so great they may blow her superior's tiny little mind, but that didn't mean she had to enjoy it. As she rounded the last corner she saw something she had forgotten about from that morning.<p>

In the center of the atrium, a team of men were packing away a stage and collecting the littered flyers from their days work. Charlie and his fellow protesters were finished for the week and answering last minute questions from keen members of the wizarding public. Hermione smiled to herself, the memory of Charlie's smile flashing just behind her eyes. The reverse of what he had said was true; it seems there is only one other person who loses themselves in research like Hermione does, and without telling her feet to move she was walking towards the tall redhead.

As she approached, she saw a twenty-something woman in too-tall heels, too-short skirt and a too-tight blouse almost run to him. Hermione recognized her as a Prophet reporter who had spoken to Harry after the war, and a woman who went after power so not surprisingly she was draped over Charlie like a bad smell.

"So, do you really think you can make a difference?" she drawled. "It's only two dragons a year tops, it can't be making that much of a diff-" At this Hermione saw Charlie visibly flinch at the woman's words. His eyes narrowed dangerously, a trait Hermione recognized from Ron but the reporter was oblivious.

"Yes, I do think I can make a difference," he started hotly. A red-tinted mist covered Charlie's usually kind and passionate exterior. "We all think we can make a bloody difference and we don't need close minded people like you trying to disrupt our efforts. It's all right for you saying it's only two dragons, but I've worked with them since I was seventeen years old and researching since before that, and I have seen first hand the damage these hunters are doing. We need all the backing we can get if the DMLE are going to take us seriously. If all you're going to do is stick the knife in and twist my words then you can sod off right now."

During his tirade the man with dreadlocks came and stood at Charlie's side. He may only have been as tall as Hermione, but he was three times as wide in the shoulders and his dark eyes were murderous. He listened as Charlie put the reporter in her place.

"I've said all there is on the matter, and the Quibbler has agreed to print all of my research so the public can see the damage these poachers are doing. They need to be stopped and if you want more information, read it tomorrow like everyone else." Charlie finished with.

The reporter looked as though someone has slapped her. The verbal spanking Charlie had just given her had shown her the type of man she was trying to deal with and it was obvious she was in over her head. She adjusted the pleats in her skirt and took off with a huff, not wanting to go in for round two. Charlie's companion jabbed his wand at the scrunched up flyer in Charlie's hand, making it fold into an origami dragon and chased her from the atrium. The altercation had drawn in a small crowd of stragglers who all gave a wry cheer for the parchment dragon.

The smirk on Hermione's face was not there by default; she couldn't help but enjoy seeing a reporter squirm. The click of her kitten heels made Charlie and his friend turn around.

"I thought I told- Hermione!" Charlie spoke before he saw who was approaching. His face cracked into a wide smile and he claimed her in a huge hug. They had not seen each other since the war as Charlie was away working, but they had always got on well. The five-year gap hadn't changed their pleasantries towards each other, and they relaxed into each other instantly.

"Hey Charlie," Hermione said into his hair. "You look great! Well done on getting rid of that woman, Ron and I had to confund her to keep her away from Harry."

"I just hate people like her," he said as he spied the parchment dragon flying around the fountain. "Oh, this is Gus. He's second in command and been helping me with the research."

At this Gus placed a small kiss on Hermione's cheek and said his 'hello'. He was a kind faced man when he wasn't listening to crap spewing from overzealous reporters. Charlie obviously trusted him as their banter flowed back and forth easily and without malice.

"I swear Charlie only knows pretty girls," Gus teased as Hermione's cheeks flushed pale pink. Hermione wasn't remarkably pretty, her hair was still frizzy but she wouldn't he Hermione without it. She dressed well enough to make sure people knew she meant business but forwent makeup most days.

"Oh course I do," Charlie retorted quickly. "I can't do worse than my brothers now can I?"

"Charlie, I'm friends with all your brothers," Hermione added with a smile. Gus left them to continue the clean up and allowed Hermione and Charlie to have a chat. "Seriously though, all of this is amazing. I can't believe how much support you've got in only a week!"

"Neither can we to be honest," Charlie admitted with a small voice. "We had no idea it would blow up this big. We thought there would be more resistance so we packed our wands for a game of Exploding Snap."

"I've heard rumours for a while around the Department of Magical Creatures, but I didn't know anything was being done about it," Hermione admitted. She felt bad for knowing about small rumours but knowing that Charlie knew about them too eased the guilt. "I would have researched into it bu-"

"It's ok Hermione," Charlie said with a smile as they walked around to pick up stray flyers and the remains of the origami dragon. "I know you've had bigger fish to fry. People have known for a while but didn't have the balls to do anything." Charlie finished with a sigh.

"But I think people have been scared too," Hermione reasoned. "Not many people are willing to stand up to this place, even now."

They stood in a comfortable silence for a moment, each thinking their own thoughts. Charlie needed all the help he could get with his campaign and Hermione was fed up of being the stepping-stone people in her department used for bettering themselves. The novelty of a year and a half of other peoples stress and working below her payroll was starting to wear thin, and the ever-present feeling of wanderlust was starting to take over. Hermione could take off without a second thought and not regret her choice. She had nothing tying her to her current job apart from a pathetically tiny salary and a pension payout at the age of seventy.

Charlie was taking his time to ponder the wonders of the woman stood next to him, flattening out the discarded flyers people had left behind. What was she still doing in the Ministry? Surely Hermione would be the head of a huge department looking out for elves and goblins by now? Yet, here she stood in her razor sharp pencil skirt and blazer covered with a deep purple travelling cloak that matched her dainty shoes. She seemed interested in the cause, but that was Hermione's way: Interested in anything that meant the wellbeing of someone or something other than herself. Charlie knew he and his team needed all the help they could get to overhaul the law, but he didn't want to drag her from her other work. He would relish the chance of having Hermione's help with research and charm work but he didn't want to be the point of blame if her other work suffered for it.

Who was he kidding, Hermione wouldn't let any work slip, she would take on all the work and work herself to death over every miniscule detail. She was too good an opportunity to pass up on.

"Hermione?" Charlie asked as Hermione used her wand to tie the remaining flyers into a bundle for next time.

"Is everything ok?" She asked with worry.

"Oh, yes, everything is fine. I want you to think about this," Charlie started. "Please don't rush into anything, but I think we need your help with this. Another pair of eyes to see the research would be priceless."

Hermione pondered for a moment. Ministry? No money, no drive, nothing to show for her time or Charlie? Possible danger, long days and short nights as well as researching for days on end, still with no money? It was a no-brainer for Hermione but the silence gave Charlie other thoughts.

"If you can't, it's fine," he said, to break the silence more than anything. He was slightly put out but he couldn't expect Hermione to drop everything for his campaign. Charlie was a realist, not a dreamer.

"I'll hand my resignation in tomorrow," Hermione told Charlie. Her eyes were closed as she said it, more for herself than anything. "I can meet you in a few days to start, if that works for you?"

Charlie, as it turns out was a dreamer. He was sure he just heard Hermione Granger tell him she would meet him in a few days to go over his research. He couldn't quite comprehend it. Heavy sounding footsteps came up behind him as Gus walked towards them.

"Charlie, we all set back there," he called as he got closer to the now quiet pair that was Charlie and Hermione. Coming to stand next to his friend, Gus slapped him on the back bringing him from his reverie. "You got all them flyers and things?"

"They're all here, Gus," Hermione said handing him a stack of parchment. Her eyes barely left Charlie's as she said it.

"Gus, get the guys together," Charlie said with a smile. "There's only one way I know to introduce the new team member."

"What you chatting? What new team member?" Gus asked, slightly confused.

"Gus, you've met Hermione. She's the only other person I know who is good enough to help with this." As Charlie spoke, a soft heated blush crossed Hermione's cheeks. It was the second time she had been complimented by Charlie today.

"Welcome aboard, Hermione," Gus said with a smile. "The emergency exits are here, here and here." He added with a smile and wild arm movements that caused a laugh from Hermione.

"You'll do well with us," Charlie stated. "You're the only one of us who got that joke."

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><p><em>For now…<br>This was mostly for plot, but there was a teensy bit of innocent flirting and we got to see more of Charlie.  
>Thoughts?<em>

_Thank you for reading and please review. _


	3. Chapter 3

**And again.  
>Updates are going to get quicker as I've nearly finished writing.<br>Thank you for the reviews and alerts on this, I really appreciate it. **

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><p>Charlie and Gus had whisked Hermione away to The Leaky Cauldron so she could meet the rest of the team. She was wedged between Charlie and Gus as Andrei and Caleb, both from Belarus told her about themselves. They were only a few years older than Hermione, and cousins who were more like brothers. They were smart and very witty but not overly talkative. That was left to Sebastian and Kurt, whose Maltese upbringing and love of laughter had everyone clutching at their sides at least once during the evening. The final member of Charlie's team was Marco. Spanish by birth, but by all rights as English as Hermione. He was slightly weary of her to begin with, but as Charlie spoke about her research, and the fact she had made polyjuice potion at the age of twelve, he respected that she was as bright as a button and dedicated to boot, but that didn't mean she had to like her.<p>

"So Hermione," Gus started in his smooth baritone voice as another round of Butterbeers were left at their table. "What job have you just dumped to help out our little band of brothers?"

"Well, I helped rebuild Hogwarts for three years after the war, and I've been in the Department for the Control of Magical Creatures since," she started. "I started the Society for the Protection of Elfish Welfare at school, and wanted to take it further to include goblins and maybe mermaids and centaurs. I had all these ideas but I was a pencil pusher used by people whose egos outweigh their worth. Between them and you guys there wasn't much of a choice."

"Oh, so that's what SPEW is!" Charlie said as he listened. "Ron had a badge on his bedside table for months but I didn't ask about it. You were fourteen when you started it!"

"Fourteen?" Seb and Kurt ask at the same time.

"Yes, I saw a house elf being treated badly and I wanted to stop it," Hermione said quietly. "It was unfair, and I couldn't let it happen."

"But you were younger than Charlie was when he started the research!" Seb said, awestruck that someone was a harder worker than Charlie. He'd been at the end of one of Charlie's threats more than once whenever he slipped on research work.

"Well, my life isn't exactly a typical one," Hermione said with a smile. "Muggle born, and then I met Harry when I was eleven. Any chance of a normal school life were gone after he and Charlie's youngest brother saved me from a pissed off mountain troll."

The table laughed and Kurt broke out his troll impression, something he insisted was saved for parties and drunken nights out with the boys. Hermione was warming to the group as time went on but she noticed that Marco was still reserved. He asked her direct questions, and looked at her carefully when she replied, as though trying to catch her out with her answers. She quickly noticed and looked him in the eye as she spoke, determined not to be made inferior.

"What else did you do at Hogwarts then, Hermione?" Marco asked as politely as possible before taking a swig from his Butterbeer.

"Well I did the work like we had to," she started, looking him in the eye as she placed her glass back on the table. Gus had slung his arm on the back of her chair and watched their exchange. "If you listen to anyone from my year they'll tell you I worked more than anyone, but I did what I felt I had to do."

"But you were friends with Harry Potter, surely there were more interesting things than essays?" Marco pressed.

"Yes, he had his moments and I helped him as best as I could. He, Ron and myself backed ourselves into corners almost every year but we got through it with only a few scrapes." Hermione's tone was sharpening. She didn't want to tell six people she had just met about her life in so much detail, but not doing so would raise Marco's suspicions further. Of course, being Harry Potter's friend meant that she was asked questions about him more than people asked about herself, but it was something Hermione had come to terms with.

"But the basilisk, and freeing that convict, and the whole Department of Mysteries thing. That's more than backing into a corner when you were still such a child." Marco countered.

"It was Harry who killed the basilisk, I just helped him to figure out what the creature was before it prettified me," she said firmly. The others were watching uncomfortably as Hermione held her ground against Marco. The man was not giving up as she continued. "And that convict, as you put it, was not only Harry's godfather and the nearest thing to family he had after the Weasley's. He was innocent. Putting an innocent man in front of the Dementors for a kiss is not something I take lightly. If you think I'm going to talk about the Department of Mysteries then I'm sorry to disappoint you but I am not sharing that sort of information."

"So asking about Bellatrix Lestrange is out of the question then?" Marco asked, feigning indifference. There was some common knowledge of her actions against Hermione when a reporter had caught her 'mudblood' scar in a photograph. The table was deadly silent, Andrei and Caleb were disgusted at Marco's behaviour while Charlie and Gus stood to Hermione's defense.

"Marco," Charlie warned. "Enough."

"Leave it, Marco," Gus added.

Hermione continued as though Charlie and Gus hadn't spoken. She pushed up the sleeve of her blouse and bared her arm to the group, her brown eyes not leaving Marco's nearly black ones.

"She did this when we were hunting Horcruxes," Hermione spoke through her teeth. She was angry with the wizard in front of her and determined not to look weak in the face of her new team. "I'm a muggleborn, a mudblood and I won against your pureblood elite. Bellatrix Lestrange carved that into my arm, but look who's laughing now. Definitely not her since Charlie's mother killed her at the Battle and Voldemort is finished."

Hermione may have taken it too far as Charlie placed his arm on hers to steady her. He knew his mother had killed, but it wasn't a popular topic of conversation and none of the team knew. Seb, Kurt, Andrei and Caleb all flinched at Voldemort's name, but Charlie and Gus looked on pointedly, not moving a muscle.

"Look at you, with your thick-set brow and sharp jaw. How many years of inbreeding have you had to suffer to get ideals like that of the Death Eaters?" Hermione asked the nonchalant man lounging in his seat opposite her. He may be wearing jeans with holes at the knees and rugged shirts and boots, but his were expensive. Exclusive to the pureboods left in the world.

Marco said nothing as he took in Hermione's words. She was right and he hadn't told her anything. His blood was as pure as the Weasley's or the Malfoy's and she saw straight through whatever influence he had been brought up on. He conceded that Hermione was smart enough to keep up with Charlie, if not more so. She was also a Gryffindor, recklessly brave as she spoke to the pureblood elite with connections that would make her blood boil.

"Gus, keep an eye on Hermione," Charlie said without taking his eyes from Marco. "You. Outside."

Marco stepped up elegantly while Charlie angrily brushed past the crowd to the door of the pub. Before the door even closed Charlie had his wand in Marco's throat as he backed him into a wall.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Charlie snarled at the dark haired man. He'd known Hermione a lot longer than he'd known Marco so it was she who he would defend. She was standing up for herself and Charlie had always been taught to do what was right. His parents were insistent on it.

"Getting to know her." He said simply. It had been obvious that Marco caused a slight rift in the group, but Charlie had always dismissed it as pureblood stereotyping. He was needed for the work to progress so he was kept.

"So you ask her about your distant relative torturing her? You're a sick, sick bastard Marco." Charlie spat as he pressed his wand harder into his neck.

"You're descended from the same bloodline, Charlie. She's your distant relative too."

Charlie snarled as Marco made his point. The Weasley line was interwoven with the Black line centuries ago but he was no more one of them than Hermione was.

"I'm not a Black, I'm a fucking Weasley. You do not speak to her like that again, do you hear?"

Marco said nothing.

"I said," Charlie was fuming. "Do. You. Hear?"

"You're a pureblood Charlie, you know how things work," Marco stated quietly. His voice was rough thanks to the force Charlie was using to press his wand into his trachea. "If it wasn't me, someone else would have said something. I can't promise she won't be hurt by one of us at some point."

"Don't threaten her. The team won't do a thing to hurt her. We're all working towards the same goal, or have you forgotten that?"

"I didn't mean the team," Marco stated.

Taking heed of the warning, Charlie lowered his wand before swinging his arm back and landing it on Marco's jaw. The Spanish man's head cracked on the wall behind him before he slid into an ungracious lump on the floor.

"Do anything and I'll do worse than knock a few teeth out. Don't bother continuing your research, you're not part of this team."

"We both know it's my money funding this!" Marco shouted thickly through a bloody mouth as Charlie stormed away.

Charlie reentered the pub and made a beeline to the table where a solemn round of firewhiskey was being downed by his team. Gus has his arm thrown around Hermione's shoulders and he was keeping an eye on the busying pub. He liked Hermione, and if Charlie trusted her then he would.

Kurt and Seb were telling unflattering stories of Marco in the hopes of raising Hermione's spirits, but she sat shaking into her firewhiskey. Andrei and Caleb were more tuned into Hermione's thoughts at that moment as they had both had an altercation with Marco at some point and knew he was vicious even if his caring and passionate exterior was just a façade.

"I think I should leave," Hermione said as Charlie retook his seat next to her. He took her hand and gave it an affectionate squeeze.

"It's ok. He's gone," Charlie told her. "He won't be working with us any longer."

"About fucking time," Caleb said, with a sardonic toast of his firewhiskey.

"Is everyone ok?" Charlie asked around the table, focusing on Gus.

"We're good, man," Gus said quietly as he passed Charlie a drink. "You're onto a winner with this one. I've never seen someone put that piece of shit in his place before." He said fondly while squeezing Hermione's shoulders. "I wouldn't want to guess at what you've been through Hermione, but I reckon it gives you skin like a Horntail."

She tried to smile but nothing worked. It was times like this when she felt most lonely. Harry and Ron were both Aurors and barely had time to spare these days and they were the only ones who could even begin to feel what Hermione was feeling.

"Shall we head off? We can use my parent's place as a base for the night," Charlie suggested. He watched as Seb, Kurt, Andrei and Caleb went outside to smoke one last cigarette. Gus hung back but saw Charlie's small nod and he went to wait outside too.

Hermione was quiet as she reached for her travelling cloak and bag. Of her new team, Charlie understood. His family had suffered during the war and he had heard stories from Bill about what she, Harry and Ron had gone through to end it all. He saw her fumbling with the clasp on her cloak and took over.

"Let me," he said softly. He took the heavy pewter clasp between his fingers and linked the two halves together just under Hermione's chin.

"I thought blood hate had ended," Hermione said timidly. "I suppose that was naive of me."

"Not at all, Hermione. There was always going to be the extremists who are out for blood, muggleborn or otherwise. He would have been after me given enough time, nothing screams blood traitor better than Weasley. We wouldn't be human if we weren't fighting at all." Charlie said sadly. He smoothed the heavy wool of Hermione's cloak across her shoulders. "Stay at the Burrow tonight. I don't want you to be on your own after what Marco said."

Too angry and tired to argue, she allowed Charlie to lead her to the door where the met with the others.

"You all ok to Apperate?" he asked the masses. With nods from them, they all grabbed Charlie's arm and were spun into blackness.

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><p><em>For now…<br>What do you think? Please review and let me know your thoughts on the team, or Charlie's actions, or Marco's threat.  
>Next part in a few days. X <em>


	4. Chapter 4

**Part 4  
>Slightly longer as two separate chapters were too short for me, and it was annoying as hell.<br>**

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><p>The day following the departure of Marco was an awkward one. Charlie was the main driving force of their operation, but Marco had the money they were going to exploit during the next phase of the campaign.<p>

The first part was easy as they grabbed the attention of the public by protesting and handing over the research to Luna Lovegood to print in the Quibbler. It was a smart move, as they spared nothing when handing over their intelligence so the Ministry will be shown as a bad sport; knowing the illegal hunt was happening. This could make it harder when they took their case to the Wizengamot if they had to, but the overwhelming public dedication should be enough to put this law right without having to get into a courtroom battle.

Charlie was in the kitchen with the team and a large pot of strong coffee as they tried to work out their finances.

"Ok, Marco was going to invest in this, he's the only one of us with a decent amount of money," Charlie said again as he scratched out a line he had written. "The sums aren't looking good right now, but we will work around it."

"I'm about a day away from selling my body right now, Charlie," Kurt said as he looked at the redhead through sleepy eyes.

"Save your time," Seb said, equally as sleepy. "No one would pay for that."

They shoved at each other, not energetic enough to take the conversation further as Charlie looked around, hoping a genuine suggestion would arise soon.

"What about a charity event?" Gus suggested.

"Only place big enough to have it is the Ministry, and we're not exactly their favourite people since we took over their atrium for a week without telling them." Charlie pointed out.

"Morning," Hermione said as she entered the kitchen as she searched the cupboards for something to eat. She had practically lived at the Burrow since she started school and everyone watched her move comfortably around.

"Morning Hermione," Gus called. He had seen yesterday the shaking she was trying to hide, but now she seemed to have restored a modicum of normalcy. Gus was surprised that she had spoken up to Marco but he plainly knew it had taken a lot out of her. Hermione grabbed a box of cereal and summoned a bowl, spoon and the milk from across the room without a care in the world. She sat and tilted her head to look at the papers spread over the table.

"Money making schemes?" she asked with her eyebrows raised. Charlie's hand was fidgeting with a stubby pencil, and Hermione sees a purple bruise and makes a mental note to ask Charlie about it later. "Sounds like a Fred and George idea to me."

"Fred and George," Charlie said with an amused scoff. "Fred and… Hermione you brilliant person!"

Charlie jumped from his seat, much to the confusion of his comrades and reached the stairs.

"FRED! GEORGE!" he shouted. "I NEED YOU FOR SOMETHING!"

He came back to the kitchen, smiling slightly. Hermione could sense his train of thought and gave a small smile of recognition. Fred and George knew how to make money out of practically nothing, and practically nothing was all Charlie had to offer. The others were still slightly confused, but all became clear when Fred and George entered the kitchen, half wearing their magenta work robes. Everyone knew those robes.

"It's seven in the fucking morning Charlie," George complained as he pressed a kiss into Hermione's cheek.

"The only thing you should do at this time of day is have a wake-up wank," Fred told him, placing a kiss onto Hermione's other cheek. She shook her head at the twins, wondering if they would ever get to lunchtime before they made a crude joke. "Hello to all of you who Charlie isn't bothering to introduce to us."

"Very funny," Charlie said flatly. "Gus, Seb, Kurt, Andrei and Caleb. Meet Fred and George." The men waved as their names were said and the twins saluted in reply.

"It's a pleasure," George said with a smile. "We've got to get to the shop, Charlie. What is it you needed us for?"

"Money," Charlie said outright. There was no point in trying to sugarcoat it for the twins. "We want sponsorship."

"And?" Fred asked; his head was one for business while George was one for creativity.

"Sponsor our charity event," Charlie started. "And you can take whatever money we don't use for our cause. Put it into the shop, or the Hogsmead extension and we put you down as our official sponsors. We put your logo on everything, your names on all the publicity material. People know your reputation already so they will trust what you invest your money in."

"Why don't you have money already?" George asked from where he was sat on the counter.

"I think that's my fault," Hermione said with a small voice.

"It wasn't your fault, Hermione," Gus insisted with a squeeze of her hand. "The bastard had it coming."

Sensing the confused looks on the twins faces, Charlie filled in the gaps.

"We've had Marco Valdez researching with us for a couple of years. He was going to fund the next leg but he said something to Hermione and I got rid of him. I won't have anyone talk like he did around us."

"Valdez? Val-dez… Marco Valdez?" George said, more to himself than anyone else. "Ring any bells Fred?"

"Not to me, sounds like a pureblood though," he said with caution. "Right?" He asked Charlie and he nodded silently.

"I looked into it last night. He's a distant Black relative by marriage. It's hundreds of generations back but he managed to keep their money and was going to use it for another research mission." Charlie looked to Hermione, shamed that he hadn't told her Marco's connection to Bellatrix in a more private way. Hermione now saw more clearly why Marco was pressing for details the previous day.

"So that's why he wanted to know," Hermione said quietly. "Charlie, don't blame yourself."

"Ok, we are officially late but we'll look at the books and see how it works out," Fred said. "Can we steal Hermione from you? She knows our accounts better than we do."

"I need to fill her in here. How about later tonight?" Charlie asked, hoping he could pick her brain about their situation.

"Be here at eight," Fred said as he and George Apperated to their shop.

"Nice to meet you all!" George added just as he twisted away.

After that, they sat down to business, working out the politics and financial situation of their campaign.

"Right then Boss, what are we to do with no money?" Gus asked.

"We need to get the Ministry to listen to us," Charlie said to the group. "We need to put together a proposal that they just can't refuse. We have supporters but they need to see we're doing something. If Fred and George come through with the funds we can get this charity event off the ground we need a place to hold it. We can't exactly waltz into the Ministry again."

"What about here?" Kurt asked. "The grounds are big enough, right?"

"The wards are too strong, and it's too far off the beaten track to be practical." He replied with a sigh.

"Hogwarts?" Seb asked.

"Too much for McGonogall to risk, she'll never allow it."

"Anywhere in Diagon Alley?" Andrei asked. He had spent the least amount of time in wizarding Britain so was just trying to kick start Charlie's mind.

"There's a few old empty shops, but they're too small," Charlie said rubbing his eyes. "It'll spill out onto the street straight after it starts."

"Why don't we cut out the middle man then?" Hermione asked. "We make it into a street party."

The others looked at her and they pondered her suggestion. It would be risky as hell, and too far in the open but people needed to see that the war was behind them and people should start living like it again.

"Hear me out, the very first time I went to Diagon Alley there were street performers and people all over the place," she insisted enthusiastically. "If you go there now, the people are still hiding in their shops instead of dealing from the pavements like it used to be. Hell, even Fred and George were Death Eater baiting just before the Ministry declared a state of war. If we have it in Diagon, it's a busy street and all those people who don't agree with the Ministry will see us if they didn't see you during last week. You'd need to let the Order know and set up some sort of security but we could do it. I think Harry and Ron are back tomorrow and we could ask them to be involved, at the same time as shouting about the twins' shop. It'll be a struggle to get it organized in such a short time though."

There was silence as Hermione finished pitching her idea. She was right that it would be a struggle. The cost would be huge if the twins did sponsor it, but the money that could be made back would outweigh that spent. The audience would be huge too, despite the amount of people walking through the Ministry, it wasn't a universally trusted establishment anymore so avoided by many.

"When would we do it? We have to get back to Romania in a few weeks," Seb pointed out.

"How about we let Charlie fill Hermione in on the research, Caleb and I can alter the flyers left over and Seb and Kurt get started with organizing?" Andrei offered. "Can we borrow your family Charlie? Your brothers and in-laws might want to help and we can get it ready for a weeks time."

Charlie had said little up to this point. He thought the concept was a strong one, but pulling it off would be too good to be true. Their stand in the Ministry had gone brilliantly, with the only down point being Marco's outburst the previous evening. There were a lot of people who knew about their cause but it wouldn't hurt to get their ideas out further.

"Ok, lets say we have it a week from today," Charlie said cautiously. "But I want to make it clear that it is a friendly thing. Make sure that it's known there will be no funny business. Are you boys ok to get started while I fill Hermione in?

Charlie led Hermione out of the kitchen and into the den where they could go over the research without interruption.

"Give me five minutes to get it all together," Charlie said as he headed for the stairs. Less than two minutes later he returned with a crate full of bound up parchment and an empty box. He dropped them onto the coffee table with a loud clatter and tapped each one twice with his wand.

"I have it all over at the reserve, but I keep a copy here and a copy at Bill's so if something were to happen we wouldn't lose anything."

"It's a good idea," Hermione said quietly. "I did the same with my Hogwarts notes."

They shared an innocent smile as Charlie pulled out the first binder of parchment. He was never going to admit he got that idea from Hermione when they met before the Quidditch world cup.

"This is the first bit and the rest goes back chronologically," he explained. "If we take it out, then put it right back into the spare box, we won't lose the order of it."

Charlie placed the reams of parchment in front of Hermione and opened it to show a concise index while he explained further.

"This is the first bit of research I did at Hogwarts. It's just generic essay notes and some species profiles on rarer dragons." Hermione nodded at the modest man to her side. These notes were colour coded, dutifully ordered and written with expert penmanship. Hermione could easily see they were at a standard on par with her own, and used a similar ordering system. She turned a page and Charlie carried on. "It was one of those things I was just it a bit mad on at school and couldn't bear to throw away."

Charlie reached in the crate for the next bundle of papers while Hermione placed the school notes into the spare box.

"I was looking into how reserves like the one in Romania mark the dragons, and I learnt all the charms to check them over before I left so I could use the Ministry library. I took it further and looked at dragon populations and breeding patters when I left. Before I started working at the reserve, I was hanging around Eastern Europe and Western Russia and took those photographs," Hermione looked down at a series of black and white photographs of large bull dragons and their smaller cow counterparts. Some were badly injured but most were wild and free, unknowing of Charlie's presence. The photographs were humbling to look at as the large dragons looked calm and playful or were trying to shake off their pain.

"After I came across the injured ones, I hung around them to see if anyone came back. Eventually they did and they just killed it outright and started harvesting from it so I hit them with a few hexes and ran off. When I was trying to get out of there I ran into some of the older guys from the reserve and they thought I was a hunter. I convinced them I wasn't and they took me to the reserve where I showed the supervisors my research and took me on as a junior. I think it was to humour me, but I got doing what I loved. They explained that they knew about what I had shown them, but nothing could be done because of the laws set up hundreds of years ago."

Hermione looked on at the man beside her in awe. It was painfully obvious he was passionate about these great animals and willing to risk his own neck to keep them safe. Like Hermione with SPEW, he didn't want to see an animal being mistreated either. She tried to take in the detail of his research but the vast quantity of it made it impossible so she listened to his story and took her time to understand the reasons for wanting to change the law.

"Am I going on a bit?" Charlie asked, his cheeks mottled with a pink blush.

"Not at all," Hermione replied with a smile. "I just can't believe how much effort you put into this. There is years and years of data here, Charlie, and that's only half of the binders in that crate!"

"The rest is just tables of figures, sightings of the hunters and the like. All the research into wizarding law is the recent stuff. I had to get Andrei and Caleb to help with that; they were brought up to be lawyers but had a change of heart. It was their idea to get into the Ministry last week."

"And what about Gus, Kurt and Seb?" Hermione asked.

"Gus came with me once to find the poachers. Kurt and Seb overheard me getting put in my place by one of the more stuck up supervisors and asked what it was about. The rest is history, as muggles say."

"And Marco?" Hermione added quietly.

"He's from a pureblood family. He has contacts and money," Charlie said flatly. "Not a well known family, they've stayed hidden in Spain for the most part, weren't around much during the recent war. He worked as hard as the rest of us and seemed to be on the same page as us so I didn't think much of it. I'm sorry for how he spoke to you yesterday."

"You needn't apologize, Charlie. He knew what he was saying," Hermione unconsciously covered her scars with her hand. "If anything, I should say sorry for bringing up what your mother did, it wasn't my place to speak of it."

"I don't care that he knows. I'm proud of my family, and I'm proud of you Hermione. It's the first time I've ever seen that piece of shit speechless." The redhead said with a smile as he nudged Hermione's shoulder. She gave a small chuckle at his words but sobered quickly.

"What did you say to him when you and he went outside?" was the question as Hermione's eyes flicked to the bruises on Charlie's hand.

Charlie didn't want Hermione to know he had threatened the other man, but lying to her wasn't an option either. They were working together now so keeping secrets was out of the question.

"We had a chat. I told him not to threaten you, or any of us ever again," he said, eyes not meeting Hermione. "I told him not to come back after that."

"That's too one sided for a conversation." Charlie inwardly flinched at how Hermione could read people so easily.

"He said that if he didn't ask, someone else would. That someone else would ask about the war. He's a pureblood, and you know what that kind is like. If one doesn't threaten you, another will." Charlie took Hermione's hand and looked her in the eye. "I promise he won't touch you. I asked you to work with us so I'll make sure you're safe."

"Do you think it'll come to that?" Hermione asked.

"He's a pureblood, I knew what I was getting when I got him working with us," Charlie admitted. "We needed money, so I put a bit of faith in him. He was always seemed to be on our side during the war; he fought with us over in Romania. My fault for thinking someone like that could change really."

"Don't you dare blame yourself, Charlie Weasley," Hermione said in good imitation of Molly. "You did what you had to, anyone would."

"We'll all keep an eye on you, and if Gus catches wind of what he said, I wouldn't want to wait and see what happened." Charlie said with a wry laugh. "Are you ok reading over this? I'm going to check on the others."

"Of course," Hermione said, enthusiastic as ever. "So long as I have a steady stream of biscuits I'll be good until the twins are back."

With that Charlie left Hermione to it. She read over ever sheaf of parchment and copied down every table of numbers. The further into the research she got, the more awestruck she was by Charlie's research methods. He was an old-school researcher, using books and essays to back up his hypotheses but still gathering first hand information. It was clear that Charlie was intelligent. Every Weasley was smart in his or her own way, but Charlie was a thinker; a strategist who planned ahead. He had a folder just for hypothetical planning of research and drafts for essays. Hermione smiled as she recalled having a very similar folder of her own in her Hogwarts days.

The hours passed quickly. The men were in the kitchen for the most part and joined Hermione for a break every now and again. Gus brought her food when she forgot to eat and they spoke amicably together about the research.

"So, Hermione," Gus started as he held a plate for Hermione to take. "How goes the number crunching?"

"It's not too bad," Hermione said with a laugh as she accepted the food. "It's like being back at school but I enjoy it."

"I'll bet the teachers are bit easier on the eye though," Gus teased which caused Hermione to blush.

"Not by much," she replied flatly, but Gus' wide smile made sure her faux-seriousness didn't hold for long. "Ok, you guys are easier on the eye than the teachers at Hogwarts."

"That's what I like to hear!" Gus almost sang around a loud laugh that took a moment to sober up. "How well do you know the Boss then, Girl?"

"Well, I've known this family since I was eleven," she smiled. "I've been best friends with Ron since then, and stayed here during the holidays. Bill and Charlie weren't around too much, but we got on well at the Quidditch world cup. I didn't realize he'd started this work back then."

"He's a good man, is Charlie," Gus said as he bit into his pasta again. "He knows what he wants and won't stop until he gets it. It's why this has worked out so well so far."

"What's he like to work for?" she asked shyly.

"He's the best boss I've ever had," Gus stated plainly in his deeply rich baritone. "He's one of us at heart. Doesn't take himself too seriously and is always open for a chat. He really cares, you know?"

"I know," she said with a smile as she remembered the end previous night. "This whole family is like that. Have you met them?"

"Only the twins today and Bill a few months back. They're a good family from what I've seen."

"They are the best family I've ever known," Hermione stated simply. Her own family was amazing, but there was the Weasley charm that Hermione simple couldn't dismiss. They were the happiest, most courageous group of people she had ever had the pleasure to meet.

Hermione and Gus sat in silence for a moment, quietly eating their pasta and falling into their memories for a moment. Hermione was bloody lucky to have a family like the Weasley's love her; she knew that there were always families like the Dursley's who didn't care.

"I best be getting back. Charlie may be a good boss, but he'll have my bollocks on toast if I don't get back to it." Gus said with a cheeky smile to break the silence. Hermione laughed and shook her head slightly, Charlie certainly knew how to pick them.


	5. Chapter 5

**There may be a bit of a delay between this chapter and the next, I just need to have a re-shuffle.  
>Enjoy! <strong>

* * *

><p>It was a week later when Hermione found herself standing in the middle of Diagon Alley, surrounded by dragon-hardened researchers and wearing a determined expression covered by a wide smile. The street party was well underway, Molly, Fleur and Ginny had pulled out all the stops when it came to providing food, they thought they were feeding the five thousand. There were long table set out down the center of the cobbled street, behind which the women were handing out cakes and sweets to young children and laughing at their toys from Fred and George's shop.<p>

The twins had done spectacularly well to prepare for the party in only a week. They had worked through the night to get Smoking Dragon Balls, Harmlessly Flammable Pet Dragons and their new dragon themed Skiving Snackboxes (with real-ish Dragon Pox Parma Violets!) onto the shelves. The twins and Hermione had agreed that they would fund the street party, and one research mission, and in return their logo was on everything. These dragon toys and pranks were just a bonus from them, and it helped draw in excitable children to their store.

The party was in full swing, Hermione answering her fair share of questions as she spoke to public with ease. It had taken a few days, but she had memorized Charlie's research and made a copy of it for herself. Like with the Ministry protest, Charlie kicked it all off and answered the most questions.

Before long, Hermione was in a deep discussion with Gus and a gaggle of people who were distracted on their way to the Apothecary.

"But we need dragon scales for potions!" one of them bleated.

"We can't carry on if the prices go up! How can we compete with other people when our blood replenishing potion is too expensive to buy?" another man whined.

"For that potion, only a small amount is needed," Hermione reasoned. "Surely only a tiny scraping from one scale is enough for a large supply. If you're buying more than that, it makes me wonder what you are using them for?"

"Are you implying something there, Miss Granger?" the man retorted hotly. "Because I can assure you that I-"

"Sir, all Hermione was saying is that if you are concerned about the cost, and in such a volatile potion, surely you would want the safest ingredients? Buying illegally could kill you, never mind how much you are using." Gus interrupted. "I suggest you read this and think about what you are supplying to other people." He placed a flyer in the man's hand and steered Hermione away.

"You ok, girl?" he asked affectionately. "You seem on edge a bit."

"I'm fine, Gus," she insisted. "Thank you for that back there, I should have kept my cool a bit better."

"You go find Charlie and take ten minutes," he said soothingly. "I haven't seen you take a break and I know he wouldn't have. We can handle this."

Hermione tried to protest, but Gus had already taken her flyers and was shouting for Charlie across the street. Hermione quickly hugged Gus and moved towards the tall redhead where he quickly asked if she was ok.

"I'm fine," she smiled. "Gus told me that we need a break so here I am."

"I suppose he has a point," Charlie conceded. "Mum saved us some food and we can use the shop's back room."

Together they greeted Molly and quickly stole away into the relative quietness of the back of the shop. They sat and both sighed heavy sighs at the same time.

"Is it always this tiring?" Hermione asked with a laugh. Taking a desk job hadn't done wonders for her fitness levels it seemed.

"Pretty much, you get used to it though," Charlie said around a cucumber sandwich. Andrei and Caleb had decided nothing was more British than a street party, so there was everything from cucumber sandwiches, to scones, cream teas and vats of steaming Earl Grey. The twins had also placed their own products on the tables, as well as Honeydukes and their happily supplied chocolate dragons and sugared firepops.

The turnout for the street party was huge, Seb and Kurt had been apperating around the wizarding towns of Britain, spreading the word and leaving posters all over the place.

"Any news with Marco?" Hermione tried to sound nonchalant.

"Not a sausage," Charlie kept the tone light. "Are you worried?"

"I'm trying not to worry," she admitted. "I think it's an innate thing to worry when I've known Harry and Ron for as long as I have."

"If he does anything, I'll be the first one to bring him down," Charlie promised. "We've got the Order here today, he'd be more stupid than I give him credit for if he did anything in such a crowded place."

Hermione had approached Remus and Tonks a few days previously to explain their need for security. They were shooting from the hip and Order and off duty Aurors were interspersed in the crowds outside.

"Speaking of crowded places, are the twins ok to go ahead with their big finale?" Hermione asked. She'd seen it once before, but she wouldn't want to miss it now they were doing it again.

"Oh I think so," Charlie said with a wide smile. "We're just waiting for them to give us the signal."

They looked at each other for a moment, and before another word was uttered, they grabbed their bottles of chilled Butterbeer and ran for the Alley laughing between their gasps for air they sought the tall twins. Fred and George were just leaving the shop with their brooms and an old WWW crate between them when Charlie waved them down

"OI! Charlie!" Fred shouted across the street. "We're good to go if you are!"

"You two get in the air, we can cover for you," Charlie called back. This had been Fred and George's idea, of course, but Hermione and Charlie thought it was genius. No one else was any the wiser as Charlie cast a 'snorus' at his throat and called for attention.

"Ladies, gentlemen," he started with confidence. The crowd calmed almost instantaneously and he caught the questioning looks of the rest of the team.

"First of all, I want to thank you for coming here today, and if you didn't mean to come but got caught up with us, thank you all the same." A small chuckle came from the crowd. Molly looked up at her second eldest son as Bill placed a comforting arm around her shoulders. The immense pride she felt was palpable as she looked up to him.

"As I'm sure you all know by now, our ultimate goal is to get the laws changed so illegal dragon poaching is stopped and only safe products will be used in wand making and potion brewing. The team and I have been handing out flyers and answering questions all afternoon, and is happy to carry on in a short while. Before then however, my brothers, and official sponsors have something they would like to do."

Charlie stood aside as Hermione threw up an armful of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder into the sky above Gringotts. The blackness caused a few screams and excited children to laugh and cry out. Before the darkness cleared, Fred and George shot through the black cloud and emerged in the sky to loud cheers and a whoop from Bill and Ginny.

"Not a lot of people know this," Fred shouted through his own 'snorus' charm.

"But this was out parting gift to Hogwarts School!" George finished. There were rumours of their last moments of course, but the only evidence was a small, out of focus photograph taken by Colin Creevey that was in the Prophet a few weeks later after Umbridge was ousted from the school. The young children on the street were squealing so loud the windows in the shops were rattling.

"Ready Fred?"

"Ready George!"

No one could play a crowd like the twins, and before anyone knew it, they were soaring through the sky on their Fire Fly 1000's, throwing fireworks through the thinning black cloud below. When they called their trademark phrase to each other, everyone knew something spectacular was going to happen.

The loud flashes, huge bangs and whizzes and pops had the crowd in awe as they craned their necks to watch. Camera flashes were going off at ground level, but were outdone by the bright colours in the sky that were now twisting and turning, interweaving as the two twins flew with style and panache. The fireworks were spreading through the sky, towards all corners of the Alley now.

Hermione was looking up at the sky, next to Charlie as he looked on in shock. He had heard about the twin's exit from Hogwarts, but didn't realize the scale of it.

Fred jabbed his wand towards the street now, the long thin arms of cackling sparks joined with the heads of people, causing their hair to stand on end. The adults were shocked but the children were howling with laughter. George directed this stream of energy towards Bill whose hair leapt from his ponytail and danced around his face. Gus was no exception either, his long dreadlocks sticking out like spikes on a Blast Ended Screwt.

Andrei and Caleb were both laughing, as Kurt and Seb were subject to the same treatment as more strands of static came from the sky. Fred and George had used the static to cover their next move and were busy levitating small bundles of explosives at various places in the sky. The winding strings of their fireworks were changing colour, flashing blues and greens and golds and slowly disappearing with a pop from each one.

"And now, ladies, gentlemen, boys and girl," George shouted over the screams.

"The ONLY way to leave Hogwarts in style," Fred called after.

They left their levitated packages in the sky as they swooped low over the heads of the crowd. They were only feet from the heads of their captive audience, moving at speeds that left them as a magenta blur.

"What about volunteers, Freddie?" George asked loudly, playing up to their audience. They were hovering near the entrance to the street, looking down towards the bank.

"You know what, Georgie. You have a damn good idea," Fred pondered while dramatically stroking his chin. "Volunteers put you hands up!"

Every child raised their hands and unbelievably screamed even louder. Fred and George swooped and picked a boy and a girl from the crowd and landed by them. After asking permission quickly from the parents, they lifted the kids onto the front of their brooms and slowly lifted up into the sky. Their arms were around them, but they used sticking charms nonetheless. This was about good publicity after all.

"Ok, what we want when we say so, is to hold our wands with us and shout 'boom' as loud as you can, ok?" Fred said quietly as they got higher and higher into the sky. The children nodded enthusiastically.

"Can we have a countdown from ten?" George called to the crowed as they leveled with their target.

"TEN… NINE… EIGHT… SEVEN… SIX… FIVE… FOUR… THREE… TWO…ONE…" the crowd shouted together.

At three, the twins took their wands from the sheaths on their forearms and held them level with their awaiting packages. They were charmed to go off at their wands only, to save any unfortunate accidents while they were performing to the people below. The trigger word wasn't of importance, but their display was all about theatrics. The children on their brooms were wide-eyed and excitable. At two, they put their hands over their guardians and called the numbers and waited for the countdown to be over.

"BOOM!" Fred, George and the two children called.

The finale was spectacular. The largest fireworks blew from the middle and exploded in all directions. The glittering gold triple W of the twins shop was in the middle, it was hissing and popping as a giant dragon thundered through the sky and up and down the alley.

The red and gold scales shimmied by as yellow flames licked the tops of the crowd's heads and blue and green flashes were seen when it crawled up the side of a shop. It then jumped to the roof of Gringotts bank and reared back on it's hind legs and pulled in a deep breath before it shot sparks and flames from it's glittering mouth. The firework flames were vast, spreading nearly fifty feet into the air.

In the cloud of smoke left behind by the twin's antics, the words "KEEP ME ALIVE" were visible in orange and blue letters under the twin's shop logo.

The final crescendo of whooping and shouting came from the audience as Fred and George landed on the raised platform Charlie and Hermione were still stood on.

"Dig deep people! We're collecting donations at our shop if you want to help the cause!" Fred called as he and George bowed low to the crowd.

With nothing left to say after Fred and George retired to the shop, Charlie and Hermione stood, speechless at what they had seen.

"Fuck me sideways," Charlie breathed. "That was bloody incredible. They did that when they were sixteen?"

"They did," Hermione confirmed. She was as gob smacked as he was seeing it again. "They used the dragon to chase Umbridge out of the Great Hall."

"No wonder they nearly blew themselves up the summer before that year," Charlie said with a laugh. He and Hermione walked back into the crowd to meet with the other Weasley's. Harry and Ron had joined them in time to see the finale.

The rest of the evening went smoothly, and as darkness started to fall the shops started to close the punters headed home. The team and the Weasley's all stayed for the clean up operation. Fred and George had people flocking to their shop after their display and before long they had nearly a thousand galleons just in donations alone.

Andrei and Caleb were using their wands to sweep the rubbish from the cobbles as a tall dark haired man made their way towards them.

"Marco?" Caleb asked.

"Where's Weasley?" he asked unkindly.

"We don't want any trouble, Marco," Andrei said firmly. "Don't make a scene."

"It seems like you've done that already," Marco said dryly before spotting a group of redheads using their wands to fold up tables and shrink the uneaten food. Before either of the Belarusians could answer, he was striding towards them. Marco had given up his battered gear for a smart dark grey suit covered in a dark blue robe. Ever the pureblood.

"Weasley," he stated, and every redhead turned to look at him. A small man with black hair and a scarred forehead also turned to glare at him, as well as a pretty blonde witch and Hermione. Using surnames with such a large family was a redundant idea so amended his request to "Charlie."

"Valdez," Charlie started coldly. "I told you not to come back."

"You did, but word spread of your little street party and I couldn't not come and see what you've done with the place. Very impressive." He tone was cold, thick with his pureblood upbringing.

"If you're looking for trouble, you won't find it here," Charlie pressed back firmly. "You've wasted your time."

"I already told you, Charlie. I'm not looking for trouble, but someone else is. Just watch your back."

Charlie was ready to rip the man's throat out with his bare hands, but Bill and Ron holding him back stopped him.

"Don't Charlie," Bill warned. "It's too public. Get him another day."

Marco turned on his heel and sauntered away.

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><p><em>For now…<em>  
><em>Ok, I know there wasn't much HermioneCharlie in this, the twins took care of that for me and I couldn't stop writing them!_  
><em>Uh-oh! Marco is a bit of a bastard isn't he?<em>  
><em>Please review and let me know your thoughts! <em>


	6. Chapter 6

**Back again. Sorry this one took a while, life got in the way!  
>Enjoy and please review.<strong>

Hermione turned to Charlie with a look of determination in her eyes. She needed to talk to him about Marco, and soon before all the hard work he and the rest of the team had done was made redundant.

"What the bloody hell was all that about?" Bill growled at Charlie before Hermione could talk.

"Nothing I can't handle," he spat back. Soon enough they would be in over their heads. He was a pureblood with connections that nothing good could come from. Bill calmed slightly and started walking away from their family to speak quietly with Charlie.

"Valdez was in Percy's year," Bill warned. "His family was all but killed off during the first war. He was quiet at school, but seems like the kind of person out on some fucked up revenge trip. He's related to the Blacks isn't he?"

"Who isn't?" Charlie asked dryly. Charlie kicked a bag of rubbish to vent some of his pent up anger. The bag split but Bill cleared it without word.

"Does he know what Mum did?" Bill was deadly serious now. Any emotion he had gone from his voice. Charlie couldn't find his own voice so nodded slightly. Charlie didn't care that the team knew, most of wizarding Britain knew but he didn't want them to find out like they had. He didn't blame Hermione for saying it a week ago; Marco was infuriating at times and needed to be brought down a peg or two.

"The team only found out last week," Charlie said quietly. He moved to lean against the wall and dug into his pocket for a cigarette. He didn't smoke often, but now was a good a time as any. He sparked the end with his wand and took a long, slow drag. He leaned back and raised his head to blow the smoke into the air above them. "Marco was put in his place by Hermione, I think he's taking it badly."

"You think? Older pureblood wizard getting spanked by a witch from a muggle family?" Bill asked sardonically. He took Charlie's offered cigarette and took a small drag before handing it back. "Do you think you should keep going with this work? The next step is going off in Europe somewhere and researching. If someone has a vendetta then they'll pick you up out there, especially if they have Valdez leaking your information."

Charlie took the time to ponder Bill's words. It was true that their next step was a risky one. Hermione didn't know the country like the men did, and she had an angry Valdez after her. Charlie was confident that his team would hold their ground against anything that could or would come up when they were out there. Hermione had fought in the war, on the front line, but it was five years ago and since she had been rebuilding Hogwarts and working in an office. Could she still hold her own? She seemed confident enough when they started planning their research trip, but was that just a façade in front of the others? Charlie wanted to believe that she could protect herself, but he was going to stay true to his promise of not letting harm come to her.

"She's a grown woman," Charlie said. "I'm not forcing her into this. If she wants to come then she has to pitch in with everyone else. She does her fair share of the work."

"I'm not saying you're going to give her an easy ride because she a woman," Bill said exasperatedly. He looked at Charlie take another drag of his cigarette. "She's high-profile, and a muggle born. Valdez won't stop and you need to work out if she's worth risking your entire operation for. He'll use her to get to you and try and bring you both down."

"Do you think I don't know that?" Charlie said hotly. "I know Valdez, I know he's a shit but he doesn't get his hands that dirty. If he were going to do something to Hermione or me, he'd use someone else's wand arm. He keeps himself clean."

"Isn't that more of a reason to call this whole thing off? It could be any fucker after you now considering his family."

"Bill, I appreciate your concern," Charlie said flatly while dropping his cigarette butt and grinding it into the pavement. "I can handle this."

As they walked back towards their family, Bill let a quite "I hope you can," slip. He may not be confident in Charlie and his team but Charlie put all his faith in them. It was true he would have to speak to Hermione. Hopefully it would be a conversation left until tomorrow.

Everyone spent another night at the Burrow, having a well-deserved rest after a none-stop fortnight of planning and protesting. The team were properly introduced to the Weasleys, and they stayed up until the early hours talking and sharing Butterbeers. Seb and Kurt were a lot like the twins and shared stories while Caleb and Andrei were in deep conversation with Harry and Ron. Charlie and Gus had excused themselves so Charlie could get a second opinion.

The conversation was nothing short of heated.

"Fucking hell Gus," Charlie almost spat at the shorter man. "Just give me your honest opinion."

"On what? Your personal opinion or your work?" Gus said back with equal passion.

"Work, you wanker. And the Valdez situation. I don't want to put everyone in danger just because he might do something rash, but we need to keep going with the plan or people will lose faith in us. All our work will go down the shitter then."

"I think we should stick to the plan, Boss. We can handle Valdez easy."

"But it's not Valdez who we need to handle. You know as well as I do he doesn't get his hands dirty if he can help it. He has connections to people we don't know exist and he'll get one of his lackeys to attack us if it comes to that. We know we can handle what he throws at us but I don't want to go in unprepared."

"We've planned for months, how can we be unprepared?"

"I didn't mean planning. I don't want to get into a fight without being prepared for it. Andrei and Caleb aren't as scrappy as you and me and Hermione has been in an office for two damn years, Gus! What if we're caught in an ambush? I'm not going to get one of you killed."

"Then we do what we've always done. We plan and practice. Kurt and Seb are smart enough to work out a route in, Caleb and Andrei work our the wards and I'll get supplies together."

"Seems like you have it all planned out," Charlie said in a deadpanned voice. "And me and Hermione?"

"You have this conversation with her and try and recover from whatever ball-lashing the girl gives you before we leave. From what I've seen, she's plenty tough enough. She stood up to Marco didn't she? None of us would have done that and you know it."

"I know that, but she didn't cast a curse at the man, she just told him how it was. How the hell would I know if she's quick enough with a wand?"

"You find out." Gus said firmly. This conversation was well and truly over.

Gus had given Charlie enough food for thought, and he was happily mulling it over as Ron and Harry came looking for more Butterbeers to take into the living room.

"He can't have taken on that many women at once!" Ron exclaimed to Harry over his shoulder as it routed through a cupboard. "Not even Seamus could have done that!"

"If you say so, Ron," Harry said with a smile. He was getting on well with Charlie's (and Hermione's, he reminded himself) team mates "Hey Charlie, you coming back in there?"

"Can I ask you guys something?" the older wizard asked. There was no way of being, or time to be subtle so he used the 'bite the bullet and ride out the consequences' way of thinking. "Can Hermione duel?"

Harry and Ron looked on dumfounded. He knew they could both duel, they were Aurors after all, but he didn't know if it was a talent that spread to Hermione.

"She'd kick your arse," Ron said with confidence. "Why?"

Charlie inwardly scowled. There was no way he could ask a question like that and now have to explain himself. Especially if he was explaining to two fully qualified Aurors who happened to be best friends with the person in question.

"We're going on our final research trip in a couple of weeks and I want to know she can hold her own if anything comes up." Was all Charlie offered the two younger men but it didn't appease them.

"Complications?" Harry asked seriously. "What's happened Charlie?"

"Fucking hell… Marco sodding Valdez has happened," he said shortly. The name was known to them both, but not as a threat. "He provoked Hermione, she put him in his place and how he's threatened that someone is after her. Some revenge mission or other."

"Revenge for what?" Harry asked over Ron's swearing and ranting.

"She let slip what Mum did to the Lestrange bitch," Charlie said while rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hand. "She and Valdez are related by marriage about a century ago and he's taking it upon himself to avenge her death or something. I think he's going after Hermione to get to me."

"Hermione isn't going," Ron said flatly. "She isn't going anywhere that will get her killed."

"Like we can stop her, Ron," Harry pointed out. "You know she'd go because it's what she's worked for." Sadly, Ron wasn't listening.

"What were you fucking thinking, Charlie? You let her get involved with you and your dragon saving mission and she's got fucking Death Eaters after her! Do you not think she's had enough of that already?" he ranted. "I don't want her to go with you! You wouldn't want Ginny to go with you, and you definitely wouldn't let Fleur go!"

"Do you think I'd put her in danger on purpose?" Charlie countered hotly. "She's family to me too. She does her fair share of the work with us and I think she'll be able to handle herself. There is a chance that Valdez and his playthings will find us, but there is also the chance that they won't. We're changing the plans so if he does bother, he'll go to the wrong place. And no, I wouldn't let Gin go but she would anyway and Fleur isn't a fighter, you know that!"

Ron wasn't listening to reason while Harry thought it through. There was no way the Order or any Aurors could be spared and used as a security force on their mission, and there was still a chance that Valdez wouldn't find them.

"She'll need practice," Harry stated. "We can't do it, but practice between yourselves and get to know each other's style and just hope you don't get caught. I know we can't stop her, but you keep her safe Charlie."

"If anything happens to her, I'll come after you myself," Ron finished as he left the room without the Butterbeer he came in for.

Charlie looked helplessly at Harry. The older man looked shaken by Ron's loyalty to his friend but accepted it. They had been through a lot together so it was only in Ron's nature to try and keep her safe.

"Charlie, I agree with Ron," Harry said quietly. "Keep her safe. I know she's about as strong as a person can get, but you're responsible for her. And for your team."

"I promise," Charlie said and held out his hand for Harry to shake. Harry did with a glum look on his face.

It was the second time he had made that promise, but the more he did it, the less possible it seemed.

_For now…  
><em>_Thank you for reading and please leave a comment with your thoughts. _


	7. Chapter 7

**Here is the next part, sorry this one took a bit longer than normal!  
>Thank you to everyone who has this story on alertshas reviewed/has favourite'd it, you all ROCK!**

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><p>The following day, heeding Harry and Ron's warnings, Charlie woke the team early and started out trying to train them up a bit. They all stood in the sunbaked yard of the Burrow as Charlie explained.<p>

"As you all know, Valdez is off the team," Charlie started off but paused so Kurt and Seb could agree with a sly "Thank fuck."

"Exactly. But as I've realized, he has connections and isn't one for getting his hands dirty so when we go over to Romania we need to keep our eyes open for anything that might be going on. He probably has people working under him who are more willing to draw wands so we need to make sure we can defend ourselves. Merlin alone knows what he might use against us, if push comes to shove."

Charlie took his time to look at the group. Gus, of course, knew this was coming but the others looked a bit surprised. They had known each other for years; they shouldn't need to have to practice fighting as a unit. Hermione could see right through Charlie's reasons for fighting. She was a target after she had stood up to him, and Charlie's mother had killed Bellatrix so they both had to watch their backs. Neither did Hermione know their fighting styles, or did they know hers.

"How do you all want to do this?" Charlie asked. He was uncertain of how he should lead: as a large group, or just duel and get used to it?

"How about two of us go at it, and the rest watch?" Gus suggested after no one spoke for a moment.

"Yeah, I prefer to watch a while when possible." Andrei agreed.

"Ok, Kurt and Gus," Charlie decided. "You two go. The objective is to disarm and then incapacitate the other as quickly as possible. Don't worry about broken bones, my mother can hear an arm snap at fifty paces and will be out here in half a second to patch you up."

The two men moved to stand opposite each other as the rest of the team stepped back to observe. Gus and Kurt bowed and their wands were moving at a pace so fast they were a blur.

Gus went straight into an attack, using his wand to jab a stinging hex at Kurt. He was quick however, he cried out "protego" quickly and deflected Gus' charms easily. Gus scowled and pressed back his attack while he strode towards Kurt, easily shattering his shield charm.

Kurt used the gap to his advantage, and threw an "impedimentia" at Gus who was thrown back fifteen feet where he rolled to a stop in the dirt. Just as Kurt readied himself for disarming his opponent, Gus silently cast a confundus charm on Kurt, who swayed mid step and gave Gus enough time to stand. The men were quick thinkers and were not distracted from the task in hand and were soon back to their scuffle. After a few more seconds and quick wand work, Gus had cast a levicorpus on Kurt, and ropes were quickly binding his arms and legs before he was dropped back to the ground with a thud.

The watching group gave a small round of applause to Gus who was now releasing Kurt from the ropes and pulling him off the ground.

"Nice work boys," Charlie commended them on their wand work. "Anyone else want a go before we split off and work separately?"

"Well, none of you have seen me duel," Hermione offered. She had forgone her usually smart clothes in favour of denim knee length shorts and a light t-shirt to combat the stifling warmth of summer. "I'm good to go if you are."

Charlie and Hermione looked at each other carefully. Charlie knew Gus and Kurt were still rubbing aches and pains where they had caught each other, and Caleb and Andrei learnt through observing.

"Seb? You want to go or watch?" Charlie asked.

"I'm good to watch," he said with a smile. "We all want to see if someone can beat you, Boss. Hell knows we struggle." At this Charlie narrowed his eyes to look at the man. After holding his hands up in surrender he and Hermione moved into an open space.

"Don't go easy on me," Hermione insisted. They didn't bow as Gus and Kurt had, and Charlie threw a curse at Hermione and the jet of pink light missed her by a hairs breadth. Before she could pull herself together, Charlie was at it again, tripping jinxes and bat bogey hexes flying in quick succession. A quick shield charm deflected the last two and gave Hermione to stand. The shield was strong enough to cause Charlie to stagger and Hermione turned her attention to the ground her opponent was standing on.

"EXPULSO!" Hermione said as she flicked her wand at a dead tree stump to Charlie's right. Shards of wood and bark flew at all angles and Charlie's focus on Hermione was gone for a second. In that second Hermione readied her next attack.

"GLISSEO!" she shouted at the baked earth at Charlie's feet. The ground became glass-smooth and as slippery as ice.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" was the next charm to be cast by Hermione, throwing Charlie back with brutal force as his wand flew to the side. The man slid back on the smoothed ground until he came to a stop thirty feet away.

Charlie raised his hand to wandlessly summon his wand back, but upon seeing his arm, Hermione pointed her wand at him once more.

"Langlock," she cried. Wandless magic was difficult to do silently, and sticking Charlie's tongue to the roof of his mouth was the only hope she had of keeping him without arms. Charlie was stunned and confused as he tried to speak but nothing worked. Hermione claimed her victory as she put Charlie into a full body bind and brought him back to the group with a quietly cast "mobilcorpus" before summoning his wand from where it lay in the dried grass.

"Jesus, Girl," Gus praised, wide eyed and slack jawed. "There's no way I'm getting in your bad books."

Hermione didn't take the compliment but ended the spells on Charlie. He was bruised and his head was bleeding from his ungracious slide across the ground. He spat out the dust in his mouth and looked up at Hermione, whose proffered arm he took to stand.

"Are you ok?" she asked, eyeing his head wound.

"Nothing I can't handle," he said simply. "I'm sorry I doubted you."

Hermione knew that this was a test. She had been complacent for so long and Charlie needed to know if she could truly hold her own if things did turn nasty with Valdez and his minions. Hermione put everything she had into that small duel and she had come out on top. Charlie had understood that going easy on her wasn't an option. He knew she was quick, but how quick had been a shock once she had her shield charm in place.

"It's fine. You had to know," she replied with sincerity. "Let me guess, Ron and Harry turned into protective older brothers?"

"Of course they did," Charlie added flippantly with a small smile. He would have done the same thing if they were taking her to the other side of Europe. "Ron said you'd kick my arse and I should have believed the sod."

For the rest of the day, the team used the Burrow's yard as their battleground, everyone dueling each other. Kurt and Seb were battling Andrei and Caleb in the open space where they had started and they were quickly becoming used to each other's attack and defense patterns. It was clear who worked well together as pairs so they agreed that these teams would be kept.

Hermione had just been dueling with Gus, but had been thrown to the ground by a strong leg-locking jinx and Charlie had agreed to battle the victor. She stood leaning against the tree as she watched the two men go at it.

Gus and Charlie were in a vicious in battle. At some point during the day, they had removed their shirts to try and keep heat stroke at bay. Despite this, sweat was pouring down their backs as they flailed their wands. Hermione tried to keep her focus on the spells cast and defensive patters but having two red-blooded men in front of her didn't make it easy.

Anyone could see these men were attractive in their own way. Charlie was tall, with tanned skin that hid twisting muscles when he moved. His arms were thick and steady and his face determined when he looked down the length of his wand at Gus. Covered in dried blood and scratches across his stomach that he seemed to not notice, Hermione saw him pant deeply as Gus taunted him. Hermione was drawn to the way he moved, how feline he was when he placed his feet as he stepped around the dark skinned man.

Gus wasn't tall like Charlie, but he was as wide in the shoulders. His ebony skin was sheened in sweat and dirt from when Hermione had tripped him earlier. His hips weren't as narrow as Charlie's, but the tortured muscles there were almost impossible to believe. He was as rough and ready as a person got, and his scrappy fighting style was unique in the group.

He had taken a leaf from Hermione's book, and used distractions to keep Charlie from advancing his attack. Using the branches of the willow tree, Gus had Charlie off the ground and tied in its branches within seconds.

"Fuck yeah!" Gus called in triumph as Charlie accepted his defeat from in the tree. He ended his spells and allowed Charlie to drop to the ground. The fifteen feet took the wind from Charlie's lungs but Gus was too smug to notice. He could count on the fingers of one hand how many times he had bested Charlie in a duel.

Gus hauled Charlie from the ground and they moved to the shade of the tree where Hermione had been watching.

"Keep that on record Hermione," Gus said with a smile as he threw an arm around her and pulled her close. "I beat the great Charlie Weasley!"

"For the fourth time ever," Charlie, said as he shoved at Gus' shoulder. "How many times have I beaten you again?"

"Fuck you, I'm going to enjoy this," Gus said into Charlie's smirking face. They all shared a laugh before being joined by the others.

"I don't know about you," Kurt started while dragging his arm across his forehead. "But I need a shit and a shower. We done for today Charlie?"

They had been outside since just after breakfast and it was now well on the way to being dinnertime. They were all worn out, sweating and hungry.

"Thanks for that splendid mental image Kurt, but yes. We're done for now," Charlie said to the group. "We have a fortnight before we need to go, so we'll duel and plan on alternate days. Tomorrow we sort out any equipment we're taking and record it. You can all sod off for a bit if you want, I'll change the wards so you can apperate straight back in."

Caleb and Andrei laughed as Seb and Kurt raced towards the wonky old house to beat each other to the shower, while Gus, Charlie and Hermione stayed out a little longer to repair any damage they caused to the grounds. After a few minutes, Gus left the two old friends together and went after Kurt and Seb in their race to the bathroom.

In two weeks time, they would be in Romania, with or without Valdez trailing them every step of the way and Hermione was determined to be ready.

"Lets go again," she insisted. Charlie looked at her calmly before he attacked with a body bind curse.

* * *

><p><em>For now…<br>I totally didn't use this as an excuse to have a shirtless Charlie and Gus duelling each other. Well, maybe I did a bit!  
>Please leave a comment with your views and thanks again for reading. You are awesome. <em>


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry this took so long.  
>I have exams in the next two weeks, so there will only be one upload during that time, but after that I'm free for summer so the updates will become more frequent.<br>Thank you everyone who has followed this so far. I know it's taken a long time to get through.**

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><p>There were only a few days left until Charlie gave Hermione her first taste of Romanian life. The team had been training hard for the two weeks, between organizing their equipment. There wasn't much to take with them, only food and tents that would shrink down into rucksacks and the clothes they would wear. Hermione had tried to justify taking half a library with her, but Charlie and Gus had both pointed out she needn't bother. She knew everything she may every need to know.<p>

Caleb, Andrei, Seb and Kurt had rethought their entry into Romania, bypassing all of the towns they were going to use as base camps just to be on the safe side. Charlie had filled everyone in on his theories about Marco following them and they were all taking extra precautions. The name of this research mission was to collect evidence and name and shame the hunters, then giving this evidence to the ministries of England and Romania so they can arrest and prosecute them accordingly.

Before they could leave however, Molly was insisting she gave her son and his team a proper Weasley send off. Gus, Seb, Caleb, Andrei and Kurt had come to call the Burrow home in the last two weeks. It was their center of operations, and their supplies were currently waiting for them in the barn. They got on well with the Weasleys and Harry, joining the family as easily as Hermione had so many years before. They shared drinks and stories at the end of the day, laughing and smiling as they got to know each other more. Hermione was finding her new job exciting but completely knackering at the same time. Charlie had them working from when the sun rose to when it set over the horizon. His punishing work ethic paid off though, they had fully re-planned their route and bought all the supplies they would need with three days to spare.

It was during these three days that Charlie gave up trying to stop Molly fussing and gave in to her insistence that they have a proper send off. She had banished everyone from the kitchen as she prepared a feast of epic proportions. Feeding the Weasleys alone was hard work, but with five hungry dragon tamers to add to the mix, it was a wonder there was enough food in the world. The team took the morning slowly, enjoying their breakfast in the garden with Harry and Ron. They would be going to Yorkshire soon, on a planned search of an old Death Eater's mansion so Molly was losing more of her pick-and-mix flock of offspring. Hermione took the time to speak with them in private, knowing it could be weeks before she saw them again.

"Just tell me you'll be safe," Ron insisted as they tore at croissants and crumpets. "You know I don't want you out there but don't get yourself caught."

"Honestly Ronald," Hermione said with another exasperated sigh. "I'll keep myself out of danger if you do." He knew it was impossible; he was an Auror and faced danger every day he went to work.

"But I'm trained, Hermione, Charlie has gone and thrown you in the bloody deep end with this!" Ron and Hermione had had this conversation almost every other day since she had become part of the team but neither was willing to back down. Ron's innate sense of responsibility to protect Hermione ran deep within him and he wasn't ready for her to go out alone, despite being with six perfectly capable men.

"This is why we would never have worked, Ron," Hermione said hotly. She really did love Ron, but his lead on her was too tight. "You know I need to do my own thing, and maybe with Charlie I can."

"So this is about Charlie?" Ron asked, anger and jealousy making his voice waver. "Are you doing this to get a decent lay? Merlin knows your last man was boring as shit!"

"Ron!" Harry was shocked at Ron's outburst. They had argued before of course, the rift that Lavender Brown caused between them was stuff of Weasley legend. Harry saw this as something more than just Ron being protective. He and Hermione had tried being lovers after the battle but they weren't suited to it and Ron had never really got over it. They did love each other, but the bickering easily outweighed any kind comments they had for each other so Hermione had left him. They worked as friends. Being friends was good but they still clashed occasionally.

"Face it Harry," Ron said in defence. "You said yourself that you didn't like the last bloke. You called him weedy!"

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed. The last man was nearly six months ago, and despite being easy on the eyes he was as thick as two short planks. The sex was good, but the stimulating conversation wasn't at all stimulating and Hermione broke it off with him at the end of the previous January.

"Sorry Hermione, but Ron's right," Harry's face was flushed with embarrassment at being ousted by Ron. "He wasn't right for you. But that's not the point! I'm not going to try and stop you going with Charlie and Gus and the others, but I have asked him to keep an eye out for you. I don't want you coming back in a box." Harry's words were strong enough to cause the bickering pair to think.

Harry knew that the countryside of Eastern Europe was dangerous, but he had to put faith in the men she was going with. Charlie had worked there since he was seventeen, Gus, Seb and Kurt from not long after that and Andrei and Caleb had grown up in rural Belarus. They all knew their way around and what to expect so Harry was going out on a limb. He didn't trust people easily, but Charlie was a Weasley and wouldn't put someone in harms way on purpose.

"You two need to learn to give me some slack, you know," Hermione said, trying hard to put on a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "You go off all the time and I don't know if you're going to come home. I can't help but think there is a double standard you aren't realizing."

"But we're trained to do our job!" Ron started again but was cut off almost instantly.

"And they're trained to do theirs!" Hermione snapped, waving an arm at the group of men lounging on blankets behind them. "I'm not as trained as they are, but you know I've been working with them, dueling until I can barely walk anymore. I know you both care, but I have to do this for me, if not for anyone else.

Hermione took another crumpet off their shared plate and walked back over to where the team were, and dropping heaving next to Gus and Seb. She loved Harry and Ron, she really did, but they needed to realize she didn't need a keeper. As she sat, Charlie caught her eye but the almost unnoticeable shake of her head told Charlie he wasn't to ask questions. She instead fell into the conversation they were already having.

"Hermione," Seb started. "Tell Charlie we need a day to ourselves before we go."

"We need a day to ourselves before we go," she said flatly. The crumpet she had brought with her was not fairing well in the pile of crumbs at her feet was anything to go by.

"You ok, Girl?" Gus asked, placing his hand on hers to spare any life left in the crumpet. To her horror, her hands were shaking. Gus' voice was soft, calming her indefinitely. Hermione had grown to like Gus, and was convinced that if he had ever been sorted, he'd be in Gryffindor right next to Charlie. He noticed when she was stressed or unhappy and made a point of talking her through it. Allowing a weak smile to her friend, Hermione tried to convince him she was fine.

"Come on, Boss!" Kurt tried this time. "We always have our own day before we go on any big trips. You started that fucking tradition back then."

"Fine, fine," Charlie told the team. He knew he would probably regret it but peer pressure was a bitch. "Fuck off, but be back here in time for dinner or I'll get de-bollocked by my own mother, and rest assured she'd come after you too."

Kurt and Seb had already gone before Charlie had got to the end of his threat, and Caleb and Andrei were clearing away their breakfast. Across the void created by their leaving teammates Charlie spied Gus' hand on Hermione's and the weak smile she gave him.

Charlie was never one for jealousy, but he felt a responsibility to Harry, Ron and the rest of his family to keep her safe. He knew better than almost anyone that she could look after herself. She could move her wand faster than any pureblood that was brought up on magic, and throw curses twice as fast. She was what Molly called a 'smart cookie'; as clever as a textbook, but still with a beating heart that cared for anything other than herself. Charlie smiled as Molly had called him a smart cookie more than once as a child.

He couldn't shake off the uneasiness of seeing Hermione and Gus so close though.

"Hermione? Can I have a word?" Charlie asked. Gus gave her hand a final squeeze and took Charlie's question as his dismissal.

"You're going to ask what Ron and Harry said to put me in a foul mood." This wasn't a question.

"Lets walk," Charlie suggested. Together and in silence, they walked over to the long armed willow tree they had dueled under for the past few weeks. "Out with it," Charlie said as Hermione settled into sitting on one of the low boughs.

"You know those men," she said with a sigh. "They don't want me to go, don't think I'm trained up enough, think I'm going to get killed by someone who's picking up someone else's hurt from the past. The usual."

"Do they know they sound like a broken record?" Charlie mused, trying to hide a small smile. Hermione looked to him and let out a small laugh.

"Probably not," Hermione agreed. Over their dueling practice and having their heads together over maps and invoices, Hermione had come to appreciate Charlie's sense of humour. Gus was right when he had said all those days ago that Charlie didn't take himself too seriously. "Gus reckons they're just in older brother mode. They've always been like that, though they are getting worse as they get older. You'd be the same if it was Ginny."

"If anyone goes into older brother mode over Gin, it's the twins," Charlie pointed out. "Harry couldn't walk for a week when he had asked Dad to marry her. Fred and George called it a test but I'm sure it was more torture."

"I remember," Hermione was smiling for real now. Charlie had this knack for making her smile when she didn't feel like it. Gus was a talker, but Charlie was different.

"Do you think the kids are right?" Charlie asked, serious now as he perched next to Hermione on the branch. Charlie had called Harry and Ron 'the kids' ever since Ron started school, despite not even knowing Harry.

"Yes. No. I don't know," Hermione said quietly after a moments thought. "They do make an annoying point. I haven't exactly had the training to handle a dragon."

"True," Charlie agreed, nodding his head slightly. "But you've got bottle, and that's ninety percent of the job right there. I've taught you the tracking spells we use, and the curse breakers too; any halfwit can cast those. It doesn't mean shit if you don't have the dog's proverbials to carry it through, and you have more proverbials than me. So to speak."

The now blushing Hermione laughed at the truly ridiculous mental image that Charlie conjured in her mind. There he was again, making her laugh when she should be sulking.

"Now then, Missus," Charlie said as he stood up and held his hand for Hermione to take. She did and jumped from the tree "It's your day off. Go do something."

"You can't usually shoo me away that easy, Mister," she countered. "But I need read through the figures again."

"No. You're not allowed," Charlie said plainly. "You don't need to. Go out and have fun."

"Damn you, Charlie," Hermione said with a smile.

She made her way back to the house, intent on finding a place to sit, relax and read. Charlie watched her walk away. She was quickly becoming a recurring theme of Charlie's thoughts.

Charlie found the woman fascinating as she pushed herself to be the best she could be. She quickly proved she could duel, think, strategize and laugh with team. Charlie wasn't for a second worried that she would lag behind, but watching her prove it made his pride for her bubble up inside. He laughed with her, talked with her and on occasion shared a butterbeer after any particularly long days. Charlie didn't know how his friendship with the woman might proceed in the next few days, but he was eager to find out. Harry and Ron had her best interests at heart, of course, but Charlie often wondered if she would be different without their ever-present watchful eyes.

Only time would tell.

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><p><em>For now…<br>__Thank you for reading and leave a review with your thoughts.  
>Next part in a few days. X<em>


	9. Chapter 9

**I can't believe this is part 10 already!  
>Thank you for reading. I'm going to speed up updates from here on out as I'm proud of this and I want to share it sooner.<strong>

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><p>That night, the team all met up at the Burrow with ample time to prepare for Molly's feast. Caleb and Andrei had spent the day relaxing in Diagon Alley, drinking coffee and talking of home. They didn't miss it as such, but it was nice to talk about it now and again. Seb and Kurt spent no time in getting to the muggle part of London and quickly found hotel rooms to take their respective conquests. Gus had spent the day helping Molly with the food, and flirting outrageously as they shared kitchen space. They got on well together, and every alternate phrase from Gus' lips was praise on Molly's part.<p>

Hermione has spent the day alone, a large tomb on her lap as she read in the garden. No one bothered her and she felt like she was in heaven. Charlie took the time to watch her from the house as he too did his bit to help with the food. He watched as she bit her lip and looked into the distance when she was trying to remember something, or played with a lock of hair when she was captivated by the story she was reading.

It was late in the afternoon and Charlie stood by the sink, carefully peeling potatoes with his wand. Of course he cared about her, but when had he cared like this? There had been women in the past, a couple of them were serious but even then he didn't notice when they flicked their hair or bit their lip. If he was watching as an outsider, he would be shouting and screaming that they were dangerously close to the precipice, threatening to fall into something neither party would be able to control. As it was, he was one of those people on the edge and he was blind.

It was logical that the more someone got to know another person, the more they would care, Charlie kept telling himself.

"Boss?" Gus' quiet voice said from the space to his left.

"Huh?" Charlie asked, bringing himself back to the present.

"You're going to cut your damn finger off, man," Gus said, lowering his eyes to the sink where Charlie's wand was a mere millimeter from slicing flesh. Charlie followed the darker man's eyes and dropped the potato with a dull thud.

"Just thinking," he offered as his reason.

"No you're not," Gus counted softly. "You're looking at the girl like you looked at Sal."

Sal was one of the women he had met, and actually gave a damn about. When he was young, Charlie was foolish, with bravado he had borrowed from Bill when he left home. Sal had met him when he was in Romania, while Charlie was sulking after having his research being ticked off by a sour faced reserve manager. He was in the mess hall, taking his anger out on a beef casserole when a firewhiskey, with a slice of ginger came his way. Attached to this firewhiskey was a beautiful woman, with dark hair and pale blue eyes that saw right through his annoyance. Sal sat herself down, stole a slice of bread from Charlie's plate and demand he tell her what was getting him down.

It was then that Sal and Charlie began their whirlwind romance. It was year where both of them were happy but it ended sourly when Sal had sought the love of another. Charlie was hurt, and threw himself into his research even more until Gus had talked him into taking a break. It took some time, but Charlie eventually became his old self again.

"I'm trying not to," Charlie admitted in a small voice. There was no point in lying to the man who new him better than anyone.

"That girl doesn't seem the type to do what Sal did," Gus argued while subtly nodding in Hermione's direction. Crookshanks had just come to find some attention and Hermione willingly put her book down to scratch the cat's ears. "Why is it such a bad thing?"

"Valdez wants to hurt her. If he succeeds it'll hurt a fuck of a lot more than what Sal did," Charlie said through gritted teeth. Sal had fallen out of love with Charlie but he had got over that, but if someone hurt Hermione he would always blame himself.

"But he's won't, Charlie," Gus placed a comforting hand on the taller mans arm. "None of us would let him, especially not you. She might look innocent over there, but we both know she's a powerful woman. She don't need no man looking over her."

"But its what this family has done since she was eleven," Charlie sighed as he turned his back to the window. "First Ron and Harry, my parents, she stayed with Bill and Fleur for a while. The twins even; after the war. Now it's my turn and I've got a lot to live up to and if I fail I may as well kiss goodbye to the lot of them."

"Give her room to breathe, Boss," Gus said after a moment of looking in Charlie's eyes. Many people loved Hermione, and the pressure to keep her in one piece was mounting. Of course, Molly and Arthur would be worrying about everyone, but with Charlie's siblings there was the brotherly love that nothing could match. "She'll come with us, we've worked too hard to give up now. She'll work herself to death before she lets you down so stop worrying and go get changed. Your delightful mother says dinner will be ready at sundown."

With that, Charlie took his leave and spent half an hour under a steaming shower head, just letting the hot water flatten his hair to his skin and roll across his shoulders. Charlie had made most of life's big decisions while standing in the shower so he thought through their plan once more. He knew it like the back of his own hand, the entire team did but Charlie couldn't help himself.

As Charlie scrubbed a days worth of dirt from his body his thoughts turned to what Gus had said. Hermione wasn't a dainty woman like the Patil girl Ron did-and-didn't-see, nor was she distant and unique like Luna Lovegood. She was sharp, and strong and so clever he could barely believe it sometimes. Ron and Harry had her wrapped in cotton wool when what she needed was a platform to stand on where she could throw herself around a bit. Charlie felt sick thinking about the things she had gone through during the war, but Hermione had always come out on top. She'd broken bread of sorts with Bellatrix Lestrange and had the scars to prove it. Charlie didn't know of any other person who was as strong as Hermione Granger.

After rinsing the soap from his body and inspecting another graze on his side from dueling with the woman who was currently on his mind, he stepped out of the bathroom to dress for dinner.

Everyone was waiting in the living room for Charlie to materialize from the bathroom. Through the windows the sun could be seen, setting over the rolling hills surrounding his family home.

"There you are, Charlie!" Molly called from the kitchen. She and Hermione were placing huge bowls of food down the center of the long table. "You took your time."

"Sorry Mum," he said distractedly. Hermione must have used the other bathroom to get ready as her hair was still damp and fell in waves around her face. She smiled as she saw Charlie at the foot of the stairs. She was dressed in a dark blue summer dress that reached her knees with pale coloured sandals on her feet. As was her way, she wore no makeup but the long hours spent outside gave her a glow that only nature could.

"Right everyone, grab a place and tuck in," Molly called. The twins and Ron ran headlong into the wall as the scuffled against each other to get to the food first while everyone else took a more relaxed pace. Arthur was in his place at the head of the table, with Molly directly to his right while everyone chose a seat.

"Molly, this all looks wonderful," Harry praised. He always made a point of complimenting the food, she had taken him in all those years ago and it was the least he could do.

"Thank you Harry dear, but it wasn't all me," she said smiling. "Gus helped too."

"After everything you've done for us, Molly, it's the least I could do," Gus replied with a smile. Gus stood and raised his glass and raised a toast. "To Molly and Arthur. The best Weasleys out there." The table laughed at Gus' toast, but all raised their glass

"Molly and Arthur," the table called. Molly was beaming down the table at her rabble of family ad friends. She was enormously proud of every one of her children, and the people they had become and they friends they kept.

As the meal progressed, the twins and Kurt and Seb started off the daily Quidditch debate that nearly always ended with them disagreeing over who the best team was.

Harry and Bill were talking about Bill's work at Gringotts and Ron took this opportunity to observe. As his Auror training progressed, Ron became a good observer and more often found himself taking a step back to watch. Of course, Ron's eyes fell to where Hermione was sat, next to Harry and Gus while Charlie was opposite her. They were talking not about the dragon research mission, but now Harry and Ron's Auror work that was taking them to Yorkshire the next day.

"Just take care, Harry," Hermione pleaded.

"I will if you will," he joked back.

"Don't you worry yourself, Harry," Gus said before placing a forkful of baked potato into his mouth before pulling up the side of his shirt. He exposed a large graze that ripped across the side of his ribcage. Fleur looked over and raised her eyebrows before Bill leaned over a whispered something, predictably inappropriate, in her ear making her cheeks flush. "She did this to me the other day and we're friends."

"Gus! You said it was nothing!" Hermione said, wide-eyed at what she saw. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"Just my ego. It's a scratch, girl, don't you worry yourself over me." Gus just smiled and waved off her concern.

Charlie watched the exchange, seeing how Hermione once again as fretting over someone else. He also felt someone else's eyes on him, and looked over to see Ron with his brow furrowed in his direction. Charlie couldn't read his expression, or what was on his mind but he was going to find out.

The meal finished an hour later with treacle tart and coffee. Ron hadn't said much during it, but he had watched Charlie and Hermione while they spoke together, and to the rest of their team and family.

Charlie was laughing at her jokes, and Harry's constant fussing while relaxing in the company of the people he cared most about. Charlie didn't let Ron's spying on him unsettle him as he excused himself to get more coffee and wine.

"I'll help," Ron said as Charlie was rising from his seat. Charlie looked at him for a second and nodded. Whatever was going to happen, it probably wouldn't end well for the older sibling.

"What's your game, Charlie?" Ron asked outright. Charlie had been expecting him to ask, but not in quite a direct way.

"There is no game," Charlie replied. "She's too smart to play games with, you know that."

Ron narrowed his eyes dangerously, but Charlie didn't flinch. They were the same size, equally fast with a wand and there wasn't much difference in their way of throwing insults.

"Why did you want her working with you? Was it to try and get in her bed?" Ron retorted.

"Have I stepped on your toes, Ron? I thought that ship had sailed years ago?" Charlie knew he was below the belt, but he wasn't going to be made a fool of by his youngest brother.

"You know damned well it did," he nearly shouted. Charlie cast a quick silencing charm on the door so no one would suspect ill play in the family home.

"I'm sorry Ron, but what the fuck do you want me to do? I asked her to work with me, and she chose to do it herself. I didn't demand it of her!"

"She isn't trained, Charlie," Ron raised his voice at Charlie, trying to find fault. "She hasn't even seen a dragon since the war, let alone worked with them. You've been forcing dueling practice on her every other fucking day since you got her to leave the Ministry!"

"Do you honestly think she's the sort of person who can be forced into anything? She left the Ministry, she wanted to work with us and she wanted to do more dueling practice. Hermione asked to do more work so she could prove to me she can handle it, and she has ten times over. I trust her with what we're doing as much as I trust Gus and the others."

"Don't tell me about my own best friend! I've known her a hell of a lot longer than you have." Ron was shouting now and Charlie was hoping his hastily cast charm would hold. "You just came swanning in here and talked her into putting herself in danger! Did you not think she's had enough of that?"

"If you know her so well, you'd know she doesn't need covering in cotton wool like you and Harry think she does! I've promised him I'd keep her safe, so I fucking will even if I end up dead." Charlie argued back. He hadn't really thought about it, but he knew he would do anything for Hermione's safety. "I care about her just as much as everyone out there does."

This admission made Ron think. He knew he and Harry would take an 'avada' for her, but he hadn't realized that Charlie would too.

"If she get hurts," Ron threatened in a low voice. "I'll kill you myself."

With that, Ron grabbed the coffee and wine and stored back towards the dining tale in the other room while Charlie let out a low growl and landed his fist in the kitchen wall.

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><p><em>For now…<br>So what do you think? Charlie is getting deeper and deeper into this! I think Ron may have got the message now, but then again…  
>Until next time. X<em>


	10. Chapter 10

**Quick update before I go into Uni for my first exam of the week (It's in two hours and I'm here on FFNet, and not revising! If I don't know it now…). Next update will be Friday night/Saturday morning as that is my last day. First year of uni has gone phenomenally quickly!  
>Thank you for all the amazing reviews from you all. Enjoy!<strong>

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><p>Monday morning arrived, unusually calm considering this was the day that seven people would be leaving the safety of the Burrow for a week. Kurt and Seb had planned an easy route in to Romania, and because the research proved that there was a time and a place the hunters used, they could easily predict their movements<p>

Hermione woke early, which wasn't extraordinary as she usually spent half an hour by herself, getting ready for whatever that day would throw at her. This morning however, she was well prepared for the day. In a few hours she would be in Romania, waiting in a place Caleb and Andrei had decided would be safe enough but still close enough to their target area so they could record observations.

After quickly dressing in old jeans, a couple of thin t-shirts and an old Weasley jumper, Hermione made her way downstairs to shove her feet into a pair of old grubby walking boots.

"Morning Hermione," Charlie said when she spied him from the door. He was hunched over a steaming cup of coffee, breathing in its strong aroma. Unlike Hermione, he was only half dressed, his jeans were sitting comfortably on his hips, but his rugged checked shirt was waiting to be buttoned up and his feet were bare and tucked around the legs of his chair.

"Morning Charlie," Hermione said brightly. The sun was barely up, but she felt more awake than she had in an age. She was pottering around, getting orange juice from the shelf and charring slices of bread with her wand. "Ready?"

"If someone asks me if I'm ready again…" Charlie trailed off as Hermione softly laughed.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," she agreed. She took the place opposite Charlie, and pushed the plate of toast between them. Charlie smiled and took a piece and took a large bite from the corner. "You're as bad as Ron."

"Hey!" Charlie protested. "I resent that. He gets it all down his clothes, I at least keep food in my mouth."

"Touché," Hermione agreed. "He's not happy you know, about all this."

Charlie took the time to consider what Hermione had just said. He knew Ron was angry, but Hermione wouldn't come to any harm on Charlie's watch.

"I know," Charlie said softly. "I've promised him I'd keep you safe, even if your dueling can wrap me around your wand."

Hermione looked at the man opposite him. He was all rugged, testosterone-fueled manliness. His stubbled jaw was sharp and his watery blue eyes wonderfully open. He was kind, funny and sincere in his promise to Harry and Ron. Hermione took a shallow breath and reached out to touch Charlie's hand. It wasn't a remarkable hand, but it was softer than it looked and Hermione squeezed gently. She understood the burden her best friends had put on Charlie, and she was more confident in him than anything else they had worked on. Nothing could be articulated that proved she believed in Charlie more than she did right then.

They were interrupted by the arrival of the rest of the team, and their hands parted swiftly and they both looked away, shattering their moment of understanding.

"Morning you two," Gus said as he dropped one of the crates on the table. They were due to leave in half an hour but Molly was sure to take up twenty nine and a half of those minutes with her fussing over them.

"Grab your packs, you've pulled," Kurt joked, throwing two nondescript rucksacks at Charlie and Hermione. They both checked them again, just to make sure and to hide their blushes.

"Apperate to Ministry, Portkey to reserve, apperate to drop point, hike to clearing," Gus reeled off again. Hermione was so familiar with the plan she was starting to think it was ingrained onto the backs of her eyelids.

"We know!" called Seb and Kurt together while they raided the cupboard in search of breakfast. As if on cue, Molly appeared in the kitchen and started fussing.

"Have you got all you need?" she asked the masses while taking Gus' face in her hands and holding it to the light. "You look like you need some food in you my dear. Much too slim in the face."

"Molly, you've done way too much for us already," Gus insisted while he gently removed Molly's hands and pressed a kiss into her cheek. "After all this is through, you and Arthur should come stay in the Caribbean with me. It's the least I can do."

"We'll think about it," Molly said, charmed by the young man.

To fill the minutes before the left, Molly supplied everyone with a hearty breakfast, and an overload of motherly love before turning forcefully to her son.

"Are you sure you're going to be ok out there, Charlie? Harry and Ron have been making such a fuss over sweet Hermione going along."

Charlie stood and wrapped his arms around his mother's shoulders. He was much taller than she and her cheek nestled in his chest when he placed a kiss on her head.

"We're all fine," Charlie said plainly. "We've got everything, Hermione will be fine and I'll be fine. We'll all be fine. In a week, you can coddle us all you like." She swatted his arm with her wooden spoon and protested that she 'doesn't coddle'.

They all hugged and thanked Molly for her hospitality before moving out into the yard. Hermione was given an extra squeeze.

"You make sure you come back safe, you hear me?" Molly said and she tried to squeeze the air from Hermione's lungs. "He's a good boy. He won't let you down."

"I know, Molly," Hermione quietly agreed. She took her time to look at him. Tall, red hair, passionate, caring, fiercely determined and with a heart bigger than anyone she knew; he was good all right. "I know."

The apperation to the Ministry was a simple one, they all landed with only a modicum of decorum after Kurt landed on top of Gus in the Atrium. After a brief and slightly nervous wait in the international Portkey lounge, in which many cups of coffee were drunk did they land in Romania.

"Which room we in, Kurt?" Gus asked as they landed in a plain white room, with no windows and a single door. Kurt, who was nearest to said door, placed his hand on the handle and a wonky number two appeared, etched into the wood.

"Two," Kurt called. "It'll be a piece of piss getting out to the drop point from here. May as well walk it."

The Romanian dragon reserve was vast, spreading over many hectares, crawling up mountains and through forests. Around the reserve, rooms were built in concealed corners that could be used for apperating to without disturbing any dragons that may be around. Room two was the furthest from any on-site buildings and usually devoid of dragons as the habitat was only suitable for the very adventurous types. The edge of the dragon reserve brushed the edge of the Transylvanian Alps by twenty miles; their drop point for the night.

"No point using so much energy," Gus reasoned. "Apperate and set up camp? Ola's left the Love Shack for us for the next two weeks."

"Love shack?" Hermione asked, already dreading the answer. "Do I want to know?"

"It's where people like Gus get to know the intimate details of their right hand," Charlie said before Gus could respond. "It's basically a shed with a carpet floor. Thought thinking about it, calling it a carpet is being kind. Wards are about as strong as at the Burrow though, so it's useful."

"Oh lovely," Hermione said dryly to herself. As she was trying to shake the image of Gus indulging in a little self-love from her mind (not that it wasn't a pleasant thought, mind you), Caleb and Andrei raised their wands and carefully opened the door. After checking for dragons, or any other animal they may encounter the team fell out into the blinding white sunlight. Hermione turned to look back at their room but all she would see is a pile of jagged pewter grey rocks.

"We keep it as natural as possible, helps when we settle them," Caleb explained.

Around them was a rocky clearing, with a few wispy trees and not much else growing from the high rock walls that surrounded them. The sky was bright blue and completely cloudless. In the sky, about a mile high a dark shape moved with unbridled grace.

"That's Bessie," Charlie said as he watched Hermione's jaw drop in awe and her eyes widen despite the glaring sun. He stood slightly behind her and spoke softly in her ear while pointing to the great beast. Bessie's shadow was long and unsymmetrical. "Gus and me forced her away from the hunters one year, but they had already damaged her wing. Surprised we managed it by ourselves, she's bloody huge up close."

"She's incredible," Hermione breathed.

"Yes she is," Charlie whispered back, turning to look into Hermione's eyes. They were wide open and already drinking in all that was around them. Charlie remembered the first time he had ever set foot here and he knew the shock and awe Hermione was feeling. Romania really was a beautiful country.

"Boss? We good to apperate to the Shack?" Gus asked, regrettably interrupting Charlie and Hermione's moment of tenderness.

"Yeah, don't leave once you get there," Charlie said distractedly. "We'll lock up here and catch you in a few minutes."

Gus and Andrei grabbed a crate of supplies each while Seb, Caleb and Kurt grabbed their arms to Side-Along apperate with them. Charlie placed a simple locking spell on the pile of rocks and held his hand to Hermione.

"Stops any stray muggles getting in," he explained. "It only happened once, but we don't want it happening again."

Hermione weaved her fingers with Charlie's and without a word, they apperated to the Shack.

As they twisted from view, a quaffle sized rock fell down the side of the rock wall as a man hissed between his clenched teeth.

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><p><em>For now...<em>

_Ooooh, it's ever so slightly ominous! Please let me know your thoughts while I go to Uni and sit in a transport politics exam. I can guarantee you'll be having more fun than I will._


	11. Chapter 11

**Back with the next part!  
>I've finished University for this year now, so I can actually finish the writing of this. Updates will still be at the same pace they're at now as I am only 2 chapters ahead but I'll get it done!<strong>

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><p>Charlie and Hermione landed in a wooded area with a small clearing that was taken up by a small wooden hut. Under the low eaves were piles of logs, waiting to be thrown on a burning fire. Gus opened the door and smiled at his two friends.<p>

"Felt the wards shift," he reasoned. "Just making sure, Boss."

"You do right, Gus," Charlie agreed. "Still as horrible as ever in there?"

"You know it," Gus said with a laugh. "Don't know who's been in here, but there are more stains on the carpet and the bed is in bits." Hermione and Charlie walked into the Shack and Hermione took her time to look around. It was cozy enough; a fire was lit in the center of the floor and a large steel funnel acted as the chimney. In one corner was a rickety old bed with a broken leg which Caleb and Kurt were stripping of it's bedding. Opposite the entrance was another door, probably to a bathroom or small storeroom. Charlie was right when calling the carpet a carpet was being kind. Someone had hastily sewn hessian sacks together with rough twine and spread it out around the fire. Andrei and Seb were starting to unpack their sleeping mats and were laying them in line next to Gus'.

"Home sweet home," Charlie muttered dryly. They had cleared it with Ola, the owner of the hut, to keep it for two weeks, but they only really needed it for one. Any longer than that and who knew what they'd pick up off the floor.

"Hermione?" Kurt called. "Do you want to use the bedding?"

"I'm ok, thanks Kurt," she replied. She had noticed the men asking her things that should make her life easier, but she never indulged them. She was one of them. "I'm ok with my mat."

"That's just as well, I don't even think an industrial strength cleaning charm could salvage that."

There wasn't much to do that evening, and it was still only early by the time they had all settled. After agreeing that they were going to stay inside as soon as they arrived (to keep Valdez in the dark if he was watching them), putting that plan into action was more of an annoyance than anything. They were secluded and in a beautiful location. The evening was warm and the sun was throwing pink hues across the sky, literally begging for people to go for long strolls among the trees. Hermione made the most of it by invisibly expanding the window, so they could see the panoramic view of the sunset but anything on top of that would be too obvious.

Hours later, after unpacking all they needed to and claiming a spot on the floor to sleep, the team warmed up the chicken casserole Molly insisted they take with them and sat around the dwindling embers.

"It's not fair, Boss," Gus complied with a laugh. "You get food this good on tap and you're not the size of a whale. I'm sure someone hates me, I swear it." Hermione laughed with the group as Gus attacked his share of the food with added vigor.

"Only reason I didn't get fat this month was all that fucking training you had us do," Kurt agreed. Like Gus and Charlie, Kurt was physically strong, not an ounce of fat on him.

"I wasn't going to risk it," Charlie said, holding his hands up in defense. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to wind down. Sadly, this is probably the comfiest bed we're going to have for the next few nights."

Kurt had worked a way of getting to the place where the poachers killed the dragons, but they couldn't risk apperating, as they had no idea of the protective enchantments that were there or if they'd land in a group of dragons. When Charlie had first noticed them, there was only a simple muggle repelling charm set up, but with the publicity from their London protests and the Diagon Alley street party, they didn't know if the news had reached them. It was a certainty that there would be anti-apperition wards, silencing spells and protective enchantments and anything darker was not ruled out. The only way to get there safely would be to walk for two days and start their observations on the third, so that is what the team did.

The walk was a punishing one. Over hills and through overgrown woodlands Hermione was sure no human had ever been through before. They encountered no one on their way, but relentlessly scanned the scenery when they stopped for short breaks.

The night had found the team sleeping in a small grassy clearing. Everyone was exhausted, and said little when they fell into a restless slumber, too exhausted to pull out their tents. Hermione and Charlie woke early to watch over the last few hours of calm from where they slept near each other under a wizened tree neither could name; their hands close on the bed of grass.

"Morning you," Hermione smiled as she stretched her arms high above her head.

"Sleep well?" Charlie asked, brushing blades off his jeans. He tried not to stare at the strip of skin Hermione showed under her t-shirt, or the way her eyes closed as she enjoyed her stretch but couldn't. He looked, and he enjoyed it. Behind their camp, the sun was trying to break through a misty sky.

"Yeah, just not long enough," Hermione admitted. "It's not as far today, is it?"

"No, about half of what we did yesterday," Charlie grinned as Hermione face split with a smile. Hermione had asked a lot of questions about the country and its people as they walked yesterday. Even now she was finding ways of learning something new and Charlie couldn't help but indulge her. He saw a lot of himself in her from when he was a few years younger and he liked that about her. Charlie wasn't being egotistical when he thought about it; he just loved how someone was as passionate about knowledge as he was.

Over a handful of crackers and slices of cold ham, Charlie and Hermione sat on the grass to watch the sun come up. She leaned on his shoulder, sighing at the tranquility of it all.

"It's easy to love it out here," Charlie said softly, placing his arm over Hermione's shoulders. She shuffled slightly closer, enjoying the casual contact between them.

"Someone once told me that to love something, you give that thing the power to destroy you and trust that it doesn't," Hermione said softly. "This place hasn't destroyed you."

"It nearly did once, a long time ago. The people change but the place stays the same," Charlie breathed, his mouth almost touching Hermione's ear as he did. "Who told you that?"

"My mum. Before the war I told her about Ron and it's the advice she gave me. I was thinking about it last night."

"Why? Did Ron ever abuse that power?" Charlie asked curiously. He knew she and Ron had had something, but he didn't know a lot about it. More than that, he was repulsed at the idea of someone putting Hermione through pain like that. Charlie knew what it was like and he didn't wish it on anyone.

"Not exactly," Hermione admitted. "He and I wanted different things from me. I wanted to help people, but he didn't want me to put myself in danger. It's partly the reason why I was in the Ministry, and not out in the field with the Aurors after the work at Hogwarts was completed."

"So what's the real reason you came out here, Hermione?" Charlie asked quietly. His voice was low and rough with sleep in Hermione's ear. "We both know he wasn't happy about it."

"I needed to prove that he doesn't own me. He's always been protective of me but I've let him go. It's about time he let me go too."

"I can see his point though, all the brothers are like that with Ginny and you," Charlie said, softly dragging his fingers up and down Hermione's arm. "He just doesn't want to see you hurt."

"But why did you let me come, Charlie?" Hermione leaned up and looked into Charlie's face. He hadn't washed and hadn't shaved for a couple of days and his ginger stubble was lightly covering his jaw and chin. She took in the look on his face; he was fiercely determined when he wanted to be.

"Because I can see you as a person who wants to do something she thinks is worth a damn, and not some china doll that needs wrapping up." Charlie said with a degree of finality. He didn't know how Hermione would take what he had said, and he was nervous to find out. Charlie didn't find out as Gus softly calling from camp interrupted their intimate moment.

On the second day there was less distance to cover, a fact that everyone was glad of when they stretched their aching legs. There was more trekking up hills than before, but Hermione took it in her stride and she kept up well despite her smaller size. The second night followed the same pattern as before, with Gus, Kurt and Seb taking the first watches, Andrei and Caleb taking over for the graveyard shift and Hermione and Charlie woke to watch the sunrise together from their perch on a large rock.

"Did you mean what you said yesterday?" Hermione asked timidly. It was only a matter of time until they carried on their quiet conversation from the morning before. Charlie had replayed it over and over in his mind, extracting a different meaning from it each time, and each time exacerbated his frustration at being interrupted.

"Every word of it," he replied sincerely. "You deserve better than what Ron gave you, or what anyone else gave you."

"What do I deserve, Charlie?" she asked, eyes fluttering between looking in his eyes and at his parted lips.

"Everything," Charlie whispered.

Without having to look, he pressed forward until his lips met Hermione's. He closed his eyes, silently promising that he would give Hermione the light from the sun if she asked for it. Hermione was worth it to him, and she had proven time and again she was worth more than what Charlie had to give.

Hermione was taken aback by Charlie's kiss. He was pressing and hesitant at the same time; shy yet more confident than anyone. She felt his stubble on his chin, his rough lips on her softer ones. She believed for the first time she was worth a damn when Charlie kissed her and it made her blood pumped faster through her veins.

Seconds later, Charlie broke the kiss and rested his forehead to Hermione's. His eyes were closed and his breathing was shallower than before, but a smile played on his lips. After a moment, he opened them to look at Hermione's bright brown eyes.

"When we get back," Hermione promised. She didn't know what she was promising, but it was honest and she fully intended to stick to her word.

"When we get back," Charlie agreed. He placed a kiss on Hermione's forehead and returned to camp to wake the others. His mind was a scramble of static as it tired to focus on the job he had to do.

After yet more endless hours walking, the rag-tag team of researchers reached the place they were expecting the hunters to be and the sight that greeted them was truly nauseating.

In a clearing not unlink the one where they spent the first night of their trek, a large tree was stripped of it's braches so all that remained was a large aged wooden post in the center and around this clearing where dense trees with scrubby dried out brush covering the forest floor.

The stripped tree was what churned their stomachs though, as tied to it by its neck was an old bull Horntail, seemingly beaten and tortured to the edge of consciousness. Lesions ran across its thick skin in all directions, almost deep enough to expose bone in places. One of its gargantuan hind legs was twisted underneath it at an unnatural angle and its pitiful cries shocked the team to silence. The most appalling aspect about the tableau in their vision was the dragon's wings. Puncture marks, great tears and sore areas where scales had been ripped from them were everywhere. Try as he might, the bull couldn't move without a pained screech echoing around the clearing.

They stood, at the edge of the clearing; dumbstruck that someone could do that to such an animal. Hermione felt sick looking at it and tears burnt her eyes while Gus swore under his breath. Kurt and Andrei were carefully casting charms on the great beast, to determine it's health while Seb and Andrei were documenting the evidence. Charlie said nothing. His face was unreadable in the bright afternoon sun.

This had never happened before; in all the time Charlie had been watching the area. Usually, the hunters killed the animals outright and took what they wanted to use. They had never tortured an animal into submission and the kills had been quick and as pain free as possible. It was almost like someone was playing games with them. With him.

"Valdez," Charlie hissed. "That cunt Valdez."

Hermione cast a 'homenum revelio' that showed they were alone in the clearing. If Valdez was responsible, he hadn't stayed behind to finish the job.

"He'll be back, Boss," Gus said as he stood in his place at Charlie's right hand.

"I fucking know that," Charlie growled. "Kurt! What's the score with him?"

"Not great, Charlie," Kurt called morosely from his place on the other side of the dragon. Hidden behind the hurting mass of scales and muscle, Kurt's voice was unclear, but it's meaning wasn't. Both Kurt and Andrei cast the diagnostic spells and both were correlating without fault.

"Yeah man," Andrei sadly agreed. "It's pretty bad on the outside but it's worse on the inside. Bleeding, bruising, curse damage. I've not seen one this bad before. They've done him over."

"FUCKING HELL!" Charlie shouted as he kicked wildly at the brambles and long grass around him. He was livid, that much was clear and Hermione stepped aside to allow Charlie to dispel his anger. She watched and through the layers of rage, was obvious hurt and betrayal. The hard work he had put in since the age of fifteen were the petals of a dying rose, falling into nothing. He had promised to protect these dragons, but here and now, his promise was crumbling to an endless pit of disappointment.

"Ok guys, make him comfortable and start healing but don't sedate him," Gus called. Immediately, everyone went to work on the dragon. As a team, they had only ever lost one dragon, but one was one too many. Sedation and dragons as damaged as this never went together well; the chance of it waking up was too slim to risk it. Hermione was least familiar with healing spells, so left it to the experts while she tried to determine anything she could about the protective enchantment around the clearing.

Layer upon layer of spells had been cast, some conventional but many were more rare and harder to break down. Charlie had joined the rest of the team with their desperate healing attempts and Hermione got her head into recalling every detection and breaking spell she knew.

"Protego reducto," Hermione breathed. The wards shimmered slightly, but didn't break. This telltale sign did show her how extensive the enchantments were and her stomach dropped at the realization. They were around the trees and domed over them, arching through the sky. She discovered that anything could get through, but after firing a swift and powerful impedimentia at the boundary, it was clear nothing would be getting out. A stronger impedimentia showed more rippling of the wards' surface but still it didn't break.

"Fuck…" Hermione hissed. She turned tail and moved back towards where the dragon and the team were. They all worked together, casting spells to comfort the bull while Hermione turned her attention on the sky above. With protective enchantments, there were always weak spots where layers met and she aimed her wand and cast the shield reduction spell again. The shimmy of the spell rippled towards a spot right above the bare tree holding the dragon still. Hermione carefully examined the tree and tried to deduce what was the matter. Valdez was a smart man; there was no denying it, so surely the odd tree wasn't so innocent. Why was it bare from root to tip?

"I need to get near the tree!" she called to the team. Gus looked at her quizzically and took in her expression. This was no time for jokes, and Hermione's stern look confirmed her seriousness.

"Ok girl," Gus conceded. "Come round the left had side, and for fucks sake be careful."

Gus distracted the dragon by turning his examination and healing on the great beasts head and neck. Who ever had abused it had ripped one of the long horns from it's forehead and taken a sizable chunk of flesh with it. It was enough for Hermione to skate around and get a good look at the tree.

She ran her hands over it, feeling bark and moss that was hot from the dragon's body. Some areas were charred from its feeble attempts of defense, and the ashy black dust smeared over her hands. After carving very crude hand and foot holds in the side of the tree trunk, Hermione raised herself up a few meters to where the first large bough should have been. Resting on the remains of the stump was something that made Hermione's breathing halt and her eyes widen. Frozen to the spot in disbelief, she stared at the offending object.

"Fuck, fuck fuck," she whispered. Below, Gus was watching her carefully from the corner of his eye.

"Hermione! You ok girl?" he called. He had seen out of the corner of her eye when she had climbed and turned fully to her when she stopped suddenly.

"Stop moving," Hermione shouted briskly to every person on the ground. "Don't move a bloody muscle."

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><p><em>For now…<br>__So, what do we think Hermione has spotted? I know it took a while but there is a tentative first kiss! Don't worry though, this is still M rated on the sexiness front.  
>Please review and let me know your thoughts. X<em>


	12. Chapter 12

**I'm aware of just how cruel the cliffhanger at the end of the last chapter was, so here we go.  
>Everyone has been so lovely with comments and adding this to alerts and favourites as I go along and I just want to say thank you (again!)<br>Not long left now, and it's been a blast writing this.**

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><p>"Hermione?" Charlie called. She didn't move or reply. She hardly dared to breathe.<p>

"You got to tell us what it is, girl," Gus encouraged. Slowly, and with the utmost caution Hermione replied.

"Erumpent horn."

The stunned silence was tangible. They all knew the damage they could do and now Hermione was staring into the point of one.

"Hermione, tell me how big it is," Andrei demanded firmly in a voice that Hermione had never heard from the usually stoic man.

"A- about two and a half feet, from what I can see," she said unsteadily. Andrei and Caleb shared a pointed look with each other.

"What do you know?" Charlie demanded of the two cousins.

"Dolohov," Caleb started unsteadily, and unseen to all of them Hermione's eyes widened in recognition. "He's from an old Ukrainian pureblood family, lived just over the border from where we grew up. We heard rumors years ago that he was looking for a Eurmpent horn but could never find one to his liking; they were never big enough. Sounds like what he found is now up there and if it moves, we all turn into strawberry jam. Last we heard was that Dolohov was in Azkaban."

"Holy shit," Charlie breathed. "Hermione. Do you think you can get down?" The horn had remained in place with a distressed dragon pulling at the tree trunk, and in the hope it would stay there while Hermione climbed down was there. Ever the optimist, Charlie thought dryly.

"Lift me off carefully," Hermione replied. She checked the horn, and its setting was in a dip in the wood, fairly stable on the thick trunk. "It's cradled well, so I don't think it'll roll anywhere."

Gus and Kurt, who were the nearest to where she had climbed carefully raised their wands while Charlie, Andrei, Seb and Caleb kept the dragon in check. The animal was delirious due to the pain it was suffering and it made it unpredictable. Any wrong move from it and they would all be killed.

"Mobiliporpus," they both cast simultaneously and Hermione was softly lifted from her handholds. Once she was in the air, the team exhaled a noticeable sigh of relief and she landed surprisingly graciously on the grass. The team moved a safe distance from the dragon to check Hermione over.

"Really, I'm OK Seb," she insisted as she felt the unfamiliar wave of diagnostic spells drown her.

"Are you sure it's a Erumpent horn?" Charlie asked firmly. "Not something else?"

"I'm certain. I've seen one before and this is definitely Erumpent," she said with a degree of authority with the memory of what it did to the Lovegood home all those years ago.

"Now what?" Seb asked the group. They knew it was there and were understandably cautious of it. The size of it was a problem, it was more the two feet and by Hermione's estimations, that was big enough to blow the entire clearing and destroy everything.

"I have a theory," Hermione offered quietly. They all looked at her expectantly so she continued. "I was checking the wards, over on the right side of the clearing, and nothing but attacking it did anything. I cast an impedimentia at it, and it rippled. The protection is like a huge dome with a weak spot at the top of the tree trunk. The blast the horn would give off would break it down completely, but that means when we have to leave it and the dragon here, or set it off and if we're out of range, the dragon goes up with it."

Clap. Clap. Clap.

The team spun to face the sardonic slow clapping coming from the trees behind them. Marco Valdez was walking lazily towards them. His face was the epitome of pleasantly surprised.

"Well done, Hermione," he praised. "Not bad. For a mudblood."

"What have you done, Valdez?" Charlie demanded, not lowering his wand at his former colleague.

"I really should have kept her," Marco carried on, ignorant of Charlie's question or the seven wands currently trained on him. "She's smart in spite of everything. I should have had you kissing my feet, Hermione.

"It's amazing what money can do for you in just a few short weeks, right Charlie?" Valdez continued after sighing in reminisce that he didn't have Hermione kissing his feet. "New teeth, people who work without asking questions, untradeable objects. You should have seen your face, Hermione. It was a picture." He said silkily while he held up a magical Polaroid photograph. He threw it at Hermione's feet and she chanced a glance at it. It wasn't a photograph of her discovering the horn, but of Charlie and she sharing a kiss all those hours ago.

"You've been following us," she stated smartly.

"I haven't personally, I wouldn't want to waste my time," Valdez said casually. "I have had people following you since you arrived in the country. Portkey Room Two, if I'm not mistaken. Of course I had people watching every Portkey room, and could have finished you off right there. 'That's Bessie', isn't it Hermione? I was pissed off for the longest time when Charlie and Gus here saved her, she was a powerful animal."

Hermione said nothing but gripped her wand harder. She had trained for weeks for this, but she wouldn't attack alone, or until she knew how many people she would be facing.

"That's right, Hermione. Charlie here has been wanking over you for weeks, no wonder he was the first to stand up for you when I asked about Bellatrix. Bless his Gryffindor heart."

"Why did you do it?" Hermione asked sharply.

"To see what I was dealing with," was the reason Valdez gave. "I was always going to do this, I've been behind it for years, but since you came onto the scene I've had to up the ante. I underestimated how clever mudbloods can be but you worked it out, didn't you? Clever little Hermione Granger working out the only way to bring the wards down. Nice little trick with the human presence spell, shame the wards are an isolation bubble or you would have seen us on the other side.

"It's been me from the start, Charlie. I've been sending people to kill the dragons and selling their most useful parts. They fetch a pretty price with my clients, even though they do end up on the black market. I had to start working with you so I could predict your next move and get your research slammed with the reserve workers. I love the irony of it; the money I get from selling dragon parts funded your trying to stop me."

"Why change your game now?" Caleb asked. "Why didn't you kill this one?"

"For shits and giggles," Valdez almost sang in reply. "I knew how much Charlie despises seeing things get hurt. I can't even talk to a mudblood woman without getting attacked by him. I've always told my men to kill cleanly but I can't help it if they want to have some fun, because despite popular belief I don't enjoy it. It was worth it this time though, because it hurt him. It's amazing what an idea planted in your head can do."

The whole team was watching intently now, Charlie was looking him over with aggressively narrowed eyes.

"I told him someone would come after Hermione here, threatened her and Charlie didn't like it. Big, strong, Charlie didn't want her to be hurt so you all practiced dueling and changed your route to get here, hoping you'd stay hidden. That Ron sure does have one fucking big mouth around the Ministry, and he's not impressed with you, Charlie. It doesn't take a genius to work out the places to apperate in to Romania and then have someone watch them." He added slickly. "I didn't have a problem with you before, Charlie, but you stood up for the bitch who made a fool of me. Understand that no one makes a fool of me," he ended with a scream.

No one said a word and Valdez took it as his cue to carry on.

"Hermione. How are your parents?" he asked lightly now with perfect pronunciation, as a friend would ask over a cup of coffee. Hermione scowled at the taunt, but refused to give into inbred purebloods and their games.

"Ask Bellatrix," she said with a definite spit to her voice. Valdez narrowed his eyes at her and stepped closer. His chest was touching the end of her outstretched wand now, and he didn't flinch because of it. Charlie had his wand pointed on Valdez too, and the rest of the team took their opportunity to search for Dolohov or anyone else that Valdez may have employed. As it stands, a dark, rough looking man Caleb and Andrei recognize as Dolohov is at their right, and a clean cut blond man is moving closer to their left. Behind them two others were closing the gap.

"I would, but your boyfriend's blood traitor mother killed her. Just like she killed your parents Hermione. Sending them to Australia wasn't enough to protect them, so the Death Eaters brought them back and reversed your memory charm. I go to sleep listening to their screams." He finished with a whisper in Hermione's repulsed expression.

Hermione couldn't listen to the twisted vitriol spewing from Valdez's mouth and she cast a strong impedimentia, strong enough for him to hit a tree ten feet away and slump the to floor. Charlie bound him where he lay and turned his wand to the blond man.

This opened the floodgates for the others to attack. Seb blocked the curse Dolohov aimed at Hermione and fell into step dueling him.

"Help me out here, Hermione!" Seb shouted as he moved back. Fast and clean curses were defending against complex darker ones. Seb favored taking the defense until the opponent slipped up and then he took his time to incapacitate the attacker in any way possible. Dolohov was relentless and soon even Seb was starting to worry. The Death Eater, endless and surely damaging, was carefully aiming bright red and green lights at Seb. His shield charm was starting to waver as it took the impact of curse after curse, safely deflecting them into the endless sky above.

"Sectumse-" Dolohov started, but Hermione's shield was too quick as she added it to the one Seb had cast. It was too strong for him to finish saying that fateful word, and Dolohov was unceremoniously thrown into the air and spun like a top into the long grass at the edge of the wards.

"SEB!" Hermione called. "Tie him up!"

"Potrificus totalus," Seb snarled at the man staggering to his feet in the long grass a few meters away. He fell like a rock falling down a mineshaft where he was left while Seb and Hermione checked each other for injuries.

Kurt was doing well battling the Death Eater he was against. The Belarusian was swift in his movement, an elegance that wasn't shared by the scruffy looking man he was currently defeating. A strong leg locking curse and followed by a disarming and full body bind had him defeated easily. Andrei and Caleb were also doing well against the second Death Eater, and barely before casting a curse Caleb had shouted "Langlock!" and Andrei called "Expelliarmus!" and he was defenseless. Andrei made short work of binding him and moving his useless form to the center of the clearing where Hermione, Kurt and Seb were dumping their defeated opponents.

Over on the other side of the clearing, Charlie and Gus were fighting two-on-one with the smart looking blond who was giving as well as he got. He was a clever opponent, using non-verbal spells and rare curses they had never seen before to keep the dragon keepers on their toes. Bright flashes of green and blue were pointed to the tall ginger while Gus jumped around his fare share of crucio's. Hermione saw a killing curse graze by Charlie's outstretched arm and he fell to the floor. The proud and powerful man laid deadly still, his face covered in dirt and long red tendrils of his hair. His eyes still had their charming glint but the man was still.

"CHARLIE!" she screamed, scared to the point of shaking that the curse had hit its target. She ran blindly towards Charlie's attacker, sound was silenced as she ran. The world didn't matter anymore; she just had to get to Charlie. Hermione was suddenly thrown back harshly by a spell she didn't see coming. Confusion at who cast it was setting in. She wasn't hurt as far as she could tell, just blocked from running any closer and now lay in a lump, arms twisted behind her. Hermione had run from where the Maltese and the Belarusians were, who were now working hard placating the dragon so it wouldn't uproot the tree trunk and deploy the Erumpent horn, while Gus was madly flinging curses and harmful hexes at the blond attacker, Neither of whom had heard Hermione scream.

Hermione's eyes scanned the people in the clearing, all of them busy or tied up, and finally her eyes set on Charlie. His face was impassive through his hair, his features just about visible. Hurt and realization was starting to set in around the mad panic that was there before. Hermione's chest was tight and her breathing shallow and frantic.

"He missed," he mouthed to Hermione with a wink. Hermione lay shell-shocked from where Charlie's spell had thrown her back. The world didn't make sense, and Hermione's breathing stopped for a moment. She was awkwardly twisted, her wand arm around her back but she could see Charlie's face. His beautiful, infuriating face was telling her the blond man had missed.

"Three…" Charlie mouthed again. Hermione nodded and carried on the countdown until both she and Charlie spring up, and flanked Gus on the left and right sides.

"Flank the bastard," Gus called, smiling as Charlie took to his left side. Hermione was on Gus' right, where together they made their advance.

"Miss me? EXPULSO!" Charlie asked between gritted teeth before exploding a tree to the blond man's right. He suffered a shower of sharp twigs and heavy branches, almost knocking him to the ground permanently if he hadn't quickly transfigured the shards into feathers.

"No way, Boss," Gus said back with no hate to his tone while he firmly blocked another dark curse.

The blond man was back on his feet, a stream of back oil splashing in front of his three competitors.

"Aguamenti!" Hermione screamed as the oil got closer. Where it had landed was beginning to smoke violently, and she didn't want to see what happened if it touched their skin.

"You cunt!" the blond man screamed at Hermione in his Eastern European accent in between casting more curses at them. "You mudblooded bitch!"

At his words, Charlie and Gus snarled. They increased the ferocity the power behind their curses, almost to the point of torturing the man.

"Don't think so," Charlie spat back, lifting the man harshly into the air and allowing him to drop twenty feet to the ground. He was confused, with broken bones but his wand still lay within reach.

"TRICIO!" he screamed, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth as he wetly coughed. His wand was aimed at Gus, a shaking; spiking jet of white-hot sparks cracked from the end of it. It hit Gus squarely in his ribs, near the place where Hermione had grazed it in training a few days before. The blond man seemed satisfied, and with a smirk his body went limp and his wand dropped from his hand.

"GUS!" Hermione screamed from where she was still trying to tame the burning oil. Charlie heard the desperation in her voice, and ran and dropped at his side.

"Gus, come on Gus," Charlie started, his breath shaking as he tapped the black man's cheek, trying to wake him. His fathomless black-brown eyes opened a fraction, but the defeat was as clear as day. His skin was torn at his ribs where he was holding the deep wound. Quickly, and as gently as his trembling hands would allow, Charlie stripped from his shirt and bundled it into Gus' side in a frantic attempt to stop the bleeding.

"Boss," Gus said with a croaky voice and a sad smile. Charlie's relief almost broke him when he heard the soft baritone he was so familiar with. He shakily reached for Charlie's hand and grasped it tight.

"It's going to be ok, Gus," Charlie started, his voice only betrayed by the wetness in his eyes. "We'll get you back. We'll get you to the hospital on the Reserve, they'll know what to do."

"We got the bastards," he said softly, a smile on his face. He looked into the ever-strong face of Charlie who was slowly breaking apart; bit-by-bit he was tearing at the seams.

"Yeah, we did," Charlie replied thickly. "We fucking did."

"It hurts," Gus admitted quietly, a lone tear escaping the corner of his eye. "I can't- My ribs. Is it bad?"

"It'll be fine, mate. We'll get you fixed up soon." Charlie was looking around, trying to catch the eye of anyone, but no one did. They were calming the dragon, or keeping the hot oil at bay. Charlie's muscles were shivering despite the warm air as he gripped Gus' hand tightly. "Keep hold of my hand Gus, you're not going anywhere."

"Its bee- It's been an honour, working with you Charlie," Gus started but his words were breaking. Gus, despite his flirt and his optimism was also a realist. "I'm glad I met you all them years ago."

Hermione had trapped the hot oil and moved closer to Charlie and Gus but didn't interrupt them. She saw the blood on both their shirts, and the telltale signs of dark magic and brought her hand to her mouth to hide her shaky sob.

"Don't talk like that," Charlie said firmly through his weakening voice. "I'll get you back and you'll get better. We'll get back to England and have a beer when all this is over, you'll see."

"Keep safe, brother," Gus coughed softly. "Take care of the guys. Take care of Hermione. And don't you dare let them hunters win. Is she there?"

Hermione took this as her invitation and kneeled opposite Charlie and looked down at Gus.

"Any chance of a kiss before I go?" Gus coughed with a smile. Hermione lowered her lips to his and pressed gently.

"Ever the flirt," she whispered thickly as she felt him smile.

"I've wanted to do that for a while, but you need to look after Boss. He's going to need you, Girl," he said in reply. He turned his eyes one last time to look at Charlie. "Fucking love you, Boss."

"They won't win," Charlie whispered as Gus took his final breath. "I promise you they won't. Fucking love you too, Gus."

The grip on Charlie's hand was gone in that breath, and Gus' limp fingers fell into the grass. Charlie didn't take his arms from around his shoulders, or move from where his lips were pressed to his forehead as Charlie fought against his burning eyes. Tears fell silently through the grime and dirt on his face.

Hermione moved and knelt next to Charlie and carefully placed a hand on his back, tears of her own dropping heavily from her nose and chin.

"Where's Valdez?" Charlie asked in a dangerous whisper.

"Tied up with the others," Hermione replied thickly. "Go on, the others are calming the dragon. They won't notice."

This was all the encouragement Charlie needed as he softly laid Gus' still body on the grass and walked towards the bundle that was Valdez. Hermione said nothing more and carefully placed her fingers over Gus' eyes to close them and straightened his clothes as Charlie went to vent his anger.

The redhead walked with heavy feet and a murderous look in his eyes to where the Death Eaters and Valdez were tied and without uttering a word, Charlie landed his heavy boot into Valdez's stomach.

"You killed him," Charlie spat between kicks. "I loved him and you fucking killed him."

"None of you were meant to die," Valdez spluttered his lie quite convincingly. "Just play with your heads a bit."

"Stop." Kick. "Fucking." Kick. "Lying." Kick. "To me."

Before Marco could respond again, Charlie knelt so he was speaking into the bruised and abused man's face.

"I look forward to handing you to the Dementors myself. I want you to beg for death," Charlie whispered, malice playing on each syllable.

Later, after Caleb called for the reserve managers to help subdue the erratic dragon and Charlie had left Gus' body in their care did they begin the long walk home. Charlie would have taken Gus' body back himself, but his final promise to the man was yet to be fulfilled.

With a risky sedation, the dragon was healed as much as was possible, but everyone knew that it would be a long time until the dragon was fully healed. With extreme caution Charlie lifted the Erumpent horn from the tree, allowing Hermione and Kurt to climb up and attack the cursed rope with severe severing charms. After what seemed like an age, they came away and dropped heavily on the dry ground.

With grim determination, Charlie ushered the remainder of the team to the perimeter of the protective wards and stepped through them. Without uttering a word, Seb held his hand out and they all held onto it, allowing the twisting lurch of apparition to bring them back to the Love Shack.

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><p><em>For now…<em>  
><em>DZ Author AKA DZ Mom, please don't hate me!<em>  
><em>So, what do you think? This was a tough chapter to write as I loved Gus a lot but this was always meant to happen. There have been a few questions in reviews I've received about why people do things, and hopefully this answers everything (if it doesn't send me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible).<br>__Please leave a review and let me know your thoughts. There isn't long to go now!_


	13. Chapter 13

**Back again. Sorry there was a bit of a delay with this update, I've been releasing my inner artist for the first time in about 9 months and spent most of the week drawing (I drew Tom Felton and Darren Criss, both can be seen on my twitter profile, or Instagram. Just leave me a note asking for the usernames if you're interested).  
>Enjoy.<strong>

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><p>Charlie had barely said a word. He was a strong man, but Gus' death ripped through the emotions he had been carefully weaving together since the war. Charlie had lost friends before, good men who had died doing what they loved. Working with dragons was dangerous and often deadly and Charlie had to selfishly count his lucky stars that he hadn't prematurely gone through the Veil.<p>

Seeing the Shack again was hard, as he knew there was a sleeping mat and rucksack full of the things Gus had brought with him. Kurt silently and cautiously opened the door and swallowed back a sob.

"I can do it, if you want," Hermione said, not once taking her hand from Charlie's.

"No," Charlie said shakily. "I have to do it."

With that, Charlie started methodically packing away Gus' bedroll and rucksack. There wasn't a lot of clutter to tidy as they had only spent a night there. It was the small things that made Charlie's throat close: Gus' half-read book and his dirty cutlery that he had left out before they walked to the clearing. Hermione, Andrei and Caleb were quiet, and spoke quietly among themselves as they cleared their own things.

"He'll be ok, Hermione," Andrei quietly reassured the young woman who had been left feeling hollow. "He deals with death his way, and we deal with it our way. We get drunk and remember, Kurt and Seb find somewhere together where they can forget the pain in their own way and Boss sits and wallows in his grief."

"Andrei's right," Caleb reassured her with a casually placed hand on her shoulder. "Charlie's isn't exactly the best way to do things but there is no use in us saying anything. Just let him be."

This gave Hermione much food for thought. The silence that Gus' loud laugh should be filling was deafening and slowly starting to suffocate the camp. Taking advantage of the quiet, Hermione transfigured her water bottle into a tin bath and filled it with a wave of her wand so she could wash the dirt away and change her clothes. The water remained cold and refreshing, making Hermione know she was still alive while she thought. Her head was always full of something, but Hermione couldn't focus on anything. She tried reciting the twelve uses of dragon blood, her times tables, and even the alphabet but nothing worked. Something that should be second nature left her frustrated and uncomfortable.

As she sat in her corner of the Shack and dragged a comb through her unruly hair, hissing as it caught in the knots. After dressing quickly and deciding her empty head needed clearing nonetheless, Hermione walked. She strolled slowly through the trees, not going too far but still basking in the privacy she found.

Charlie was numb with grief, moving without thinking and not saying a word. Hermione said nothing when she reentered the Shack and found him angrily tearing at his hair, having just used the bath Hermione had left. Without a word, she took the comb from him, sat him on the edge of the bed and dutifully detangled his long mane. Careful, starting at the ends like her mother used to do to her, Hermione felt his muscles relax and his shoulders sag. Once his hair was back in it's usual scruffy ponytail, Hermione gently turned Charlie's shoulders and used her wand to cut the straggly beard from his chin. Not once did Charlie look at her, he just kept his eyes pointed down to his fingers where they twisted in his lap.

"Hey," Hermione whispered as she brushed her thumb along his now smooth jaw. On the outside, he was fresh and clean, but his eyes were a beacon of hurt and his body was becoming tense once more.

Before long, Charlie had taken himself outside to think. The night was warm and the sun was beginning its slow descent as day turned to night. Charlie walked for a while with no destination in mind, just reveling in the journey. Eventually finding a tree to climb, he scrambled into its low hanging boughs and sat.

"Andrei brought it with him. Maybe you could do with one," Hermione said as she spotted Charlie in a tree just in line with the camp. Charlie took the drink without question and stared at it, cradled judiciously in his hands. Hermione stood, just out of arms reach and Charlie brought his watery eyes to meet hers. She looked intently where he sat on his branch. The man was a shell of his former self, numb to the reality that was starting to set in.

"I don't want feel anymore," Charlie said grimly.

"I don't know what I can do to help you, Charlie," Hermione countered in a gentle whisper, not once taking her eyes from Charlie's. There was thick, palatable tension crackling between them, unspoken but very much accounted for.

"You do," Charlie accused as he swallowed back the whiskey His voice soft and without malice as he dropped lightly from the branch and stood face to face with the young woman. "You just don't want to say it."

Charlie's words moved Hermione against her will. She strode, purposefully, almost frantically to the man who had just dropped from the branch and let her glass fall to the ground. He stepped to meet her and their hands entwined in hair and their lips met with desperation and passion neither knew possible. This kiss was messy, with teeth clashing against each other but it didn't matter; the overwhelming need to feel something was too much for either of them to care.

Together, stood in a Romanian forest, Charlie and Hermione kissed their grief away with feverish moans of guilty pleasure and low, deep growls when lips became the victim of teeth pressing down in hunger.

"I need to forget," Charlie lamented with a groan as Hermione's teeth grazed hotly at the man's smooth, sharp jaw. "Just for tonight."

Hermione took this as her invitation, and carefully unbuttoned the fastenings of his soft cotton shirt. With languid and deliberate movements and without removing her mouth from Charlie's, the shirt gave way to hot skin; roughened by old scars and tight with unshed heartache. The smooth surface of Hermione's palms skimmed his solid chest slowly, moving without instruction to the unyielding tightness of his stomach, covered with a dusting of auburn hair.

"Just for tonight," Hermione slowly concurred between pressing warm, opened mouth kisses on Charlie's collar bone and shoulder. Hermione let her tongue reach new skin, discovering a newfound weakness for the taste of him.

The kisses continued, with a sharp nip of teeth that tore through Charlie like a shot; the feelings of sorrow and despair leaving with each hiss and moan he gave in response. Hands fumbled clumsily with belt buckles and soon Hermione was slowly caressing his rigid cock. She stroked harder, intent on making him overlook how he felt.

Charlie roughly reclaimed Hermione's mouth again as she brought him nearer to his temporary escape. His tongue met hers and slid to carefully swipe along her bottom lip.

Charlie was snared in prickly rush of desire, his need was overwhelming when he wrapped his strong arms around Hermione's small waist and pressed her back into the tree roughly. He held her there, hips against hips and chest against chest as he lapped at the supple whiteness of Hermione's smooth throat.

He fumbled the edge of her t-shirt, pulling it away from the waistband of her denim jeans. The scrape of his short nails on her stomach caused her breath to stop in her throat as Charlie's fingers slid the button free.

"I want you to feel something, Charlie," Hermione said softly in Charlie's ear as he lowered his fingers to wet them in her. His soft fingers moved within her with quick and rough motions and Hermione moaned loudly at Charlie's touch.

He slicked his fingers with her wetness, first one then a second. He plundered her tight hole as he kept his teeth at her collarbone, leaving light nips on her skin.

"In me, Charlie," Hermione encouraged. Charlie didn't need telling twice as he pulled his hand away and pushed her jeans down and she frantically kicked them away as Charlie dealt with his own jeans. He pushed them down to his knees quickly as he turned Hermione by her hips and she rested her forearms on the rough bark of the tree.

"Kiss me," Charlie demanded, turning Hermione's head towards him. She twisted back, deeply kissing him as he pulled her bare buttocks into his crotch. Their tongues met and she went deeply into Charlie's mouth, moaning as Charlie dragged the fingers of his right hand up the back of her thigh. Searching fingers slipped between her folds and Hermione broke the kiss. Charlie took his fingers from Hermione's body and stroked her bottom lip.

"Taste them," Charlie gently ordered. She flicked the finger with her tongue and tasted herself before sucking it fully into her mouth.

"Don't hold back," Hermione said as she released Charlie's finger from her lips. Charlie didn't. He leaned back, sliding into Hermione slowly and firmly. He moaned through his teeth at her tightness and gripped her hips with steadfast hands. Hermione's arms rested on the tree in front of her and she threw her head back as Charlie entered her. Charlie's chin dropped, and he gave a loud exhalation of breath as a reminder to live when Hermione urged him to moved. He did, breathing fast as she pressed back to meet his push forward; raising the tempo with each one.

There was a burn in Charlie's gut that he let build up. He gave up on trying to hold back needy and hopeless sobs, taking their place between hissed breath and deep grunts and moans. Hermione was letting him forget the grief he was feeling; that they were both feeling with this moment of escape. Hermione allowed her eyes to roll back as a fast, rough move from Charlie brought her closer to her orgasm. With her mouth hanging open with no sound coming from it now and Charlie leaned over to press hard kisses onto Hermione's back.

"So tight, Hermione," Charlie whispered as he drove into her. His orgasm hit, building within him as the physical release helped his emotional escape. In that moment he didn't have to think about Gus, about his team, about having to tell his or Gus' family the bad news. He was selfishly taking some time for himself, enjoying the feel of a soft body around his cock, tightening in pleasure as Hermione came when he exploded into her.

Hermione drew out real emotion from Charlie, a passion that couldn't be rivaled by anyone. She knew Charlie would grieve but she knew Gus had been right. Charlie needed her. She knew he needed to be away from everything for a little while.

Charlie pulled out of Hermione as they came down, his breathing ragged and his eyes were shut tight. Hermione was also breathing shallow breaths, and before Charlie could utter a word, she turned him, so he stood with his back against the tree and she kissed him hard.

She moved down his body once more, dropping to her knees where she took his still hard cock into her mouth. He was still coming down, and Hermione needed him to let loose completely. She sucked hard, tasting herself mingled with the saltiness of his body as she pinned his hips to the tree with her hands. Charlie's hands went to grip the bark above his head as his back arched as legs locked so he wouldn't fall.

He was frantic, his senses were overloaded with feeling and he bucked desperately into the mouth in front of him. He shuddered and tensed as Hermione made certain that every inhibition was lost, shooting his come into the back of Hermione's throat. She gagged as he pushed to the back of her throat as his seed dripped from her lips.

The feeling of two orgasms and the heaviness of the world on his shoulders made Charlie's legs give way and he slid down the tree and gathered Hermione in his arms. They lay together in the warm Romanian evening, saying everything and nothing with few words.

"Cold?" Charlie asked softly. They were mostly naked as they clung to each other as the stars grew brighter. Hermione nodded slightly as Charlie transfigured a blanket and some pillows. They resettled and Charlie continued. "Since I first saw you in the Ministry that day, you proved a lot of people wrong. With the amount of shit you've gone through and to still come out on top makes me want to stop and stare. I can't believe how you're still together, I would have broken years ago."

"Just because you're hurt, doesn't mean you're broken," Hermione replied modestly.

"You showed me you could do it that first say we practiced dueling, and even before that. You brought this forward," Charlie said, before his voice refused to work. Hermione knew he was thinking of Gus. "Gus saw something in you too, he told me you'd get the job done."

"He was a smart man," Hermione agreed softly. "I didn't know him like you did, but I know you cared a lot about him. He was your brother."

"He was," Charlie said with a smile as a tear fell down his cheek. "It'll take some time to sort everything out, but I'll do it for him. I promised him."

They settled into silence once more, resting against each other as they drifted in and out of a shallow slumber. One way or another, things would return to some sort of normality, and Charlie wanted to do it with this beautiful, smart, razor sharp woman at his side.

After a few hours of fitful sleep, Hermione woke to find Charlie distractedly stroking her hair as he watched her sleep. Caleb had recovered Kurt and Seb from their secluded clearing and were just about finished packing as Andrei came for them.

"Let's get back to the Burrow, we'll need to be in London in a few days and it won't do us any good to stay out here," Andrei said softly. With that, Hermione and Charlie dressed and met the others outside the Shack. Andrei led the apperation back to the reserve and ushered his companions into a quiet room to wait for their Portkey to activate.

The people on the reserve respected them, and had respected Gus so Charlie and the other men accepted their condolences with quiet thanks and a brotherly hug. They were a family out there and they had lost one of their own. Hermione stood back, allowing them to speak with friends and was heartbroken when she saw the Portkey begin to glow. All seven of them were sure to be called to the Ministry and be put in front of the Wizengamot to provide evidence against the poachers.

The familiar pull of the Portkey and the resulting spin wasn't a welcome arrival after the team's few days away. Their calm was shattered as they were roughly dumped in the back garden of the Burrow. Molly, Ron and Harry all jumped as they felt the wards shift and rushed into the garden to meet them. Harry and Ron gathered Hermione in a blinding hug, both pressing kisses to her cheek and forehead.

"It's so good to have you back," Harry gushed as Hermione tried to break free from his strong embrace.

"We've been worried sick, are you in one piece?" Ron added. Any indication that he was against Hermione leaving evaporated when he saw her. She looked tired, but with no burns or broken bones to worry about.

His mother automatically enveloped Charlie, and he held onto her tightly. They stood together in the yard, both relieved that Charlie was back home, and both with tears wetting their cheeks.

"Did you do what you had to do?" she asked carefully. Charlie nodded mutely while Molly looked around and greeted the others. The confusion was setting in for Molly, Harry and Ron as they noticed they were missing a friendly face.

"Where's Gus, sweetheart?" Molly asked tenderly.

"Didn't make it," Charlie replied thickly as he regretfully filled in the gaps. Molly, Harry and Ron were stunned to silence at the admission. Andrei led most of the team inside, as Charlie allowed the tears to breech his eyes properly in the company of his family. He held onto his mother; her unrelenting maternal understanding soothed Charlie until there were no tears left to cry and his sobs became dry.

Hermione was gently crying along with Charlie, with Ron's protective arms folded around her and Harry whispered soothing words of comfort

**EPILOGUE**

One year on, and the midsummer day on which Gus had passed was a bitter sweet one for Charlie and the team of researchers.

They of course carried on with their lives, working relentlessly to put right all that had been wrong in the countryside of Romania. Hermione was one of them now, and after much persuading from Charlie, Andrei had taken the role of second in command; not that anything was different with the way they all worked. Gus was irreplaceable but they managed as well as they could.

As Charlie led the way to the Ministry the previous year, the day after they got home, the wheel was set in motion. He had called for the Wizengamot to be called to order, and the prosecution of Marco Valdez started. The team willingly gave evidence against him, through use of Veritaserum and a Pensive so their solid case went through easily in a matter of weeks. The Aurors that had escorted Valdez back from Romania had gathered lists of customers and people in his employ who were also to be trialed at a later date.

Throughout the entire trial, Valdez only spoke to confirm his name and his permission for Veritaserum to be used. His glazed eyes looked at nothing as he confessed in detail the extent of his crimes. The madness within him that had been so prominent in the clearing in Romania was gone, apparently extinguished when his spree of animal cruelty and illegal trade had ended.

Despite having a strong case, Hermione was nervous about the outcome. After the War, any time spent in the lower levels on the Ministry held rough memories for her and the past didn't help.

Charlie stood resolute as the speaker for the team. He was unyielding and dignified as he was called to the center of the room to say his piece. With clear words he told the Wizengamot everything they needed to hear and had the last word before Valdez was swept away to Azkaban, his sentence stated that he was to die in prison.

"I told you I'm a fucking Weasley," he said as he looked down at Valdez as he was frog-marched towards the exit. Valdez turned to look at Charlie with narrow eyes but was pushed along by the Aurors so any retort died on his lips. Everyone knew that if one went through that particular exit, they would never come back and Charlie wouldn't allow Valdez to pass him without hearing it.

With Valdez now gone, the Chief Spokesperson of the Wizengamot stood to deliver the outcome of the proposal to outlaw illegal dragon products; the reason this had all started so many years ago.

"Final outcome for mister Charles Weasley, along with misters Andrei Valdir, Caleb Kazak, Kurt Botella, Sebastian Dowdall and Miss Hermione Granger. Laws regarding acquiring and using dragon products in potion making, clothing, divination, cooking, ritual charm work, sporting use and decoration must be checked and licensed by reputable sources and by trained proprietors. Ministry checks will regularly inspect premises holding dragon products for more than six months and confiscate those seemed dangerous or unstable for public use.

"In addition to this, the Wizengamot recognize the work of mister Augustus Dale Rochester and The Rochester Foundation will be set up to fund the rehabilitation of dragons that have been damaged under the orders of a mister Marco Valdez and his associates. This will only be set up under the conditions listed in the final decree, to be presented as you leave the courtroom. Session concluded."

The silence in the court was thick; the words of the spokesperson were like custard as they ran down the walls around the room. Hermione was hugged tightly by Kurt and Seb, not hearing their cries of "We did it!" as the Wealseys and Harry ran down from the stands.

"Congratulations everyone," Arthur called over the rabble of noise and smiles. Harry was enveloping Caleb and Ron was cheering with the twins as they patted Andrei and Seb on the back. Hermione allowed herself to be pulled into the maelstrom of noise and happiness of her family, joining in with the laughing and crying. The joyful tears only present to cover the shock of the Wizengamot granting them more than they had ever expected.

"I'm proud of you, Charlie," Molly told Charlie as she hugged him tightly. "Now if only you'd cut that ponytail off you'd be perfect for our Hermione."

Charlie laughed, fully and openly with his mother before pressing a kiss to her forehead. They'd barely been back long enough for any other Weasley to see it, but Molly just knew. Mothers always do.

The change in the law, and the unexpected charity set up in his best friend and brother's name was more than Charlie had ever expected at the age of fifteen, and he could look at what he had and put his demons to bed. Charlie had done something good.

Charlie, still with a wry smile on his face, gathered Hermione in his arms and kissed her, carefully and tenderly. His pick-and-mix family all saw, mostly smiling and laughing as Bill roughly patted Charlie on the back and Fred and George were shocked they didn't get a kiss for themselves. Ron wasn't smiling as much as the rest, but Hermione's happiness was important to him even if he couldn't ensure it himself.

"Charlie?" Ron asked quietly as he let Hermione go. "Can I have a word?"

"I should probably explain," Charlie agreed and they stepped out of earshot of the rest of the family. "Listen, I didn't plan for this to happen. After Gus was killed, I just-"

"I know," Ron carefully agreed. "I know you make her happy, in a way I never could. I'm sorry, for being a prick."

Ron held his hand for Charlie to shake, but Charlie gathered his youngest brother in a tight hug, holding him close.

"When did you get so grown up?" Charlie asked quietly. Ron's arms held on just as tight.

"Hermione made me see sense, you'll be an adult too given enough time," Ron smiled.

"No chance, Little Brother," Charlie released Ron and ruffled his hair like he used to do when they were children, which quickly spiraled into harmless play fighting. They were laughing together as brothers should.

* * *

><p><em>Fin.<br>Sorry if this seems a little rushed, but I didn't really have plans to extend it much further. I know I can always add to it at a later date if the need arises.  
>Thank you all for your reviews, and to those who have reviewed on every chapter. Your support is so appreciated, and if I could give you all home made cookies, I would.<br>For the next thing I write (I don't know when that will be, hopefully not too long!) will be smutty enough to make your eyes water. This was meant to be more sexual than it was, but sometimes things plan out differently than they actually turn out.  
>Thank you again. X<em>


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